Nichole R. Gilbert, former Greenfield Police Department officer
GREENFIELD — Officials with the Greenfield Police Department (GPD) say they have parted ways with former, longtime GPD officer Nichole R. Gilbert. Gilbert, Fortville, is the former officer who was charged with OWI while off duty in June.
Gilbert’s case, in Hamilton County, was settled via a plea agreement back in early August with no jail time served. She plead guilty to a Class A misdemeanor count of operating a vehicle with an alcohol concentration equivalent of .15 or more. She was given a 365 day term with 363 days suspended to probation. A second Class A misdemeanor was dismissed as part of the plea deal.
During the time Gilbert’s case was making it’s way through the court system, she was on leave from the GPD. However, officials from the GPD informed the Daily Reporter earlier this month they would be parting ways with Gilbert.
“Officer Nichole Gilbert was terminated last week in a unanimous vote by the Greenfield Board of Works and Public Safety,” GPD Chief Brian Hartman said in an email to the Daily Reporter.
Hartman noted the release was a direct result of her OWI arrest and conviction.
Gilbert did speak with the Daily Reporter about the situation, but noted she did not want to comment on the situation other than to say she is trying to get her professional career back on track with a different agency where she can utilize her investigative skills.
Gilbert is a 1996 Greenfield-Central High School graduate who had been with the GPD since 2009. She worked her way through the ranks after being hired as a field officer. She also served several years with the Cumberland Police Department. Her first job in law enforcement was at the Hancock County Jail.
Gilbert was promoted to a lieutenant with the GPD in 2019 and was given the duties as the head of the General Investigation and Narcotics Division. However, Gilbert requested to leave investigations last summer and go back to being a patrol officer with GPD. She had been a patrol officer since last summer and no longer did investigation work.
Hamilton County arrest records showed Gilbert was arrested by officials from the Fishers Police Department (FPD) during the early hours of June 18. Officials from the FPD say they arrested Gilbert for OWI after an officer who was patrolling near 96th Street and Olio Road observed a white passenger car with a missing headlight using unsafe lane movement.
“The officer initiated a traffic stop by activating his emergency lights and the white passenger car pulled over to the side of the road,” Sgt. Thomas Weger, FPD public information officer said at the time. “During the investigation, Fishers police officers developed probable cause to believe the ‘driver’ was operating a vehicle while intoxicated.”
Gilbert, who was off work and not driving a company car when the arrest for OWI occurred, had been on administrative leave until an internal investigation wrapped and the official termination.
