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Fischer out after giving special favors to Warren Buffet’s son

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Illinois

* From back in June…

Just over one month after making public plans to run for Macon County sheriff in 2022, Howard Buffett is dropping out.

The 66-year-old Decatur philanthropist, businessman and former sheriff announced Saturday that he is suspending his campaign, citing uncertainty over his eligibility and desire to prevent more instability following the 2018 sheriff’s election, which was resolved just a week ago. […]

Under the law, sheriffs must now complete the Minimum Standards Basic Law Enforcement Officers Training Course as prescribed by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board. […]

Buffett was appointed sheriff in 2017 following the retirement of Thomas Schneider. He completed the final 14 months of Schneider’s term, vowing not to run for a full term.

Before that, he was a volunteer in the sheriff’s office.

“Howard received a waiver from the state training and standards board for his extensive previous law enforcement experience. Many of us, including myself, thought that the waiver and the 705 certificate were equivalent,” Schneider said. “Unfortunately that is not the case.”

Yeah, well, as it turns out Buffet shouldn’t have received the waiver.

* Tribune…

An official in charge of training police across Illinois was fired in September on the recommendation of the state’s top government watchdog, who found he improperly granted a law enforcement certification to philanthropist Howard Buffett after Buffett had donated millions of dollars to support the training agency’s efforts.

The state’s executive inspector general’s office found that Brent Fischer, executive director of the state’s Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board, granted the certification to Howard Buffett, son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, even though Buffett didn’t have the qualifications to be a part-time law enforcement officer, according to the IG’s report released Wednesday.

A Decatur business executive, Howard Buffett, 66, served as the appointed sheriff of Macon County in central Illinois for a little over a year until November 2018. This spring, he announced he’d run for the job, but ended his campaign shortly afterward, citing changing qualifications written into sweeping criminal justice reforms that were signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker earlier this year.

In a 30-page report, which identifies Buffett only as “Individual 1,” the inspector general’s office concluded that Fischer granted Buffett a certification despite knowing he didn’t meet the state-mandated qualifications. Fisher also inappropriately issued Buffett a waiver to skirt the normal process, the IG found.

* From the report…

On May 6, 2021, the Office of Executive Inspector General (OEIG) opened an investigation into whether Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) Executive Director Brent Fischer improperly provided a Law Enforcement Officer certification to [Individual 1], certifying [Individual 1] as a part-time law enforcement officer without [Individual 1] having the requisite training.

[Individual 1], through his [Charitable Organization 1], has made substantial donations to various law enforcement entities and projects throughout the years. Of significance, in 2016, [Individual 1] donated property to ILETSB and spent approximately $15 million dollars to build a training facility on the property; in 2017, [Individual 1]’s [Charitable Organization 1] provided $250,000 in transition costs, $330,000 in instructor salaries, and two vehicles for the startup of the Macon County Law Enforcement Training Center; and in the summer of 2019, [Individual 1]’s [Charitable Organization 1] executed a lease of a building to ILETSB for one-dollar annual rent. Executive Director Fischer and ILETSB have also made requests to [Individual 1] for funds, including a donation of $275,000 and another $10,000 to support the ILETSB canine program.

In 2018, the Macon County Sheriff’s Office sought a waiver for [Individual 1] so that he could serve as a part-time undersheriff. Although waivers had previously only been granted to officers who changed jobs and had been through the prescribed minimum standard basic training course or an equivalent training course out of state, [Individual 1] was approved for a waiver by Mr. Fischer on January 11, 2019 without having completed such a training course. In addition to approving the waiver, Mr. Fischer provided [Individual 1] with a certification dated January 11, 2019, indicating that [Individual 1] was certified to be a part-time law enforcement officer when, in fact, [Individual 1] did not meet the requirements for certification. [Individual 1] proceeded to provide this ILETSB certification to other entities in support of his law enforcement credentials.

On October 16, 2020, [Individual 1’s Political Committee] filed a statement of organization with the Illinois State Board of Elections, supporting [Individual 1]’s candidacy for Sheriff of Macon County in 2022. On June 12, 2021, during the course of this investigation, [Individual 1] announced that he was suspending his campaign for Macon County Sheriff explaining, in part, that it was “open to interpretation whether” he met the new Sheriff eligibility requirements. One of those requirements includes having a certification attesting to the successful completion of a training course as prescribed by ILETSB or a substantially similar training program of another state or the federal government.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:14 am

Comments

Paging Marty Moylan, Fran Hurley, and the ‘thin blue line’ crowd, is this just another “bad apple”? Why is the bunch so bad?

Comment by Shield Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:27 am
I’ve known and worked with a few county sheriffs in my time.
Rep or Dem, they were honest, reliable servants who were not paid nearly enough for the hours they worked, nor for the headaches that are part of the job.
Some billionaire’s son who wants to play cop because he is bored demeans what others did out of a sense of duty to community.

Go buy a yacht or something you schmuck.

Comment by Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:27 am
Good Ole Boy, Adam County’s Brent Fischer, makes Chicago look positively virtuous in comparison. Glad he got his comeuppance.

Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:28 am
Howard Buffet is absolutely an Illinois treasure.

He’s quietly donated to a ton of local charities that impact a cross section of social challenges.

He built the center in Macon County for law enforcement training that is a draw for agencies across the state.

And he’s putting money into environmentally-friendly food production across the planet.

This guy is my hero!

Comment by Downstate Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:30 am
Meh. He should’ve taken the course. People do much worse things for much less money, though, and the supposed watchdogs look the other way.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:34 am
Although the director took the fall, they should probably take a peek and see if any training board members influenced him to issue the waiver. The staff always takes the fall while EO’s or board members never get touched. I suspect the director did not act alone.

Comment by Just a Guy Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:39 am
===Meh. He should’ve taken the course.===

Never would have passed the physical test to get into the course.

Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:39 am
After 29 years in Law enforcement I know integrity is kind of a big deal. You either haven’t, or you don’t. Mine was never for sale.

Comment by Retired and Still in Illinois Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:42 am
===Never would have passed the physical test to get into the course.===

This would be true of countless officers if they had to take the test over again .

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:45 am
Mr. Buffett seems like a very decent person who has done a lot for his community and the state.
I would put this in the “no good deed goes without being punished” folder.
Hopefully Mr. Buffett won’t be discouraged from doing the good work he has been doing for decades.

Comment by Back to the Future Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:52 am
===This would be true of countless officers if they had to take the test over again .===

The physical test is related to the physical demands of the course, not the physical demands of the job. There are court cases on the matter, but since they are not Illinois-centric, won’t go into it.

Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:52 am
==- Just a Guy - Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:39 am:==

LOL. Read the report or even just the Tribune story. Fischer says he did nothing wrong and is sticking 100% by his actions. In bold and underlined text in his response in the report, he says he didn’t even violate a norm. Meaning, it’s a norm at ILETSB to grease certifications for people who give big money and accepted standard to be corrupt in law enforcement.

Comment by Shield Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:54 am
Mr. Fischer clearly made a bad, unethical decision. But I would ask everyone to take a deep breath and at least acknowledge that all the donations noted (in this excerpt at least) went to ILETSB, not to him personally. Maybe we also need to ask why the state agency tasked with being the gatekeeper of professional, well-trained law enforcement needs to rely so heavily on private money.

Comment by Leslie K Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:56 am
===The physical test is related to the physical demands of the course, not the physical demands of the job. There are court cases on the matter, but since they are not Illinois-centric, won’t go into it.===

As a practical matter, there are many rotund officers in the world.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:59 am
He should have taken the course. I’d be willing to bet there would have been a bit of flexibility in meeting the physical fitness requirement. After all, this is Illinois.

Comment by RNUG Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 10:02 am
Brad Wesley

Comment by Cheswick Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 10:08 am
Whereby we think that money buys anything..”everyone has a price” according to then-WWF’s Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase.

Bad move, Fischer. Whether your the President’s son, Warren Buffett’s son, whomever…your child must go through the rigorous process or if not ‘get out of the kitchen.’

Comment by Pizza Man Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 10:20 am
Of course the OEIG goes after Buffet for this, he’s not a political insider. There’s hundreds of cases of state employees getting jobs for their family members because of preferable treatment to vendors. let’s make a big deal about a waiver for a part time sheriff who puts his badge in a frame and hangs it on the wall.

Comment by Merica Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 10:24 am
===Maybe we also need to ask why the state agency tasked with being the gatekeeper of professional, well-trained law enforcement needs to rely so heavily on private money.===

Part of it is because billionaire and their dilettante children don’t pay enough in taxes.

Comment by The Opinions Bureau Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 10:30 am
Can we please stop worshipping wealth?

Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 12:08 pm
=== There’s hundreds of cases of state employees getting jobs for their family members because of preferable treatment to vendors.===
Oh really?
There’s not enough room to list all the hundreds. Can you tell us about one?

Comment by Da big bad wolf Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 12:22 pm
==his extensive previous law enforcement experience.==

And yet he was unable (or couldn’t be bothered) to complete a course showing his ability to meet the minimum standards.

Comment by Jocko Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 12:25 pm
As a victim of the ILETSB’s flawed waiver process, who had far more training and education that Buffet did when he got his illegal waiver, I’m glad somebody paid a price for their misconduct in this matter. Now where are the Official Misconduct charges by our Attorney General? So far…*crickets*

Comment by thisjustinagain Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 2:27 pm
Hello,

Here are links to a two part article regarding Howard Buffett’s extensive previous law enforcement experiences in Arizona:

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/howard-buffetts-warren-buffet-son-border-war-cochise-county-11103225

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/border-cowboys-howard-buffett-cochise-county-vigilantism-warren-buffett-11103489

Comment by 47 Indian Thursday, Nov 18, 21 @ 9:36 pm