Director fired after improper law certificate given to donor - Yahoo News
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The director of the Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board was fired this fall after an investigation found that he improperly issued a law enforcement certificate to an unqualified local philanthropist who's also the son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, according to a report released Wednesday.
The Office of Executive Inspector General for the Agencies of the Governor determined that Brent Fischer, executive director of the standards board since 2015, issued the certificate to Howard Buffett, who had served a 14-month appointment as Macon County sheriff and in 2016 had donated land and $15 million for a law enforcement training academy.
Buffett's name is redacted in the report but he's identified by his resume and philanthropic activity.
The standards board removed Fischer, who had previously been Adams County Sheriff for 17 years, on Sept. 8 from the $156,780 job after receiving the inspector general's report. Such reports are by law kept confidential unless released by the Executive Ethics Commission, although reports that lead to termination of employment must be released within 60 days.
The inspector general's investigation found that three hours after the board accepted a $10,000 donation from Buffett in January 2019 for a canine training program, Fischer issued a training waiver to allow Buffett to serve as a part-time undersheriff and a certificate to become a part-time law enforcement officer.
“Certification of law enforcement officer status, especially considering the significant public interest in maintaining integrity in that process, should not be minimized nor should it be provided based on someone’s ability to financially contribute … to the law enforcement community,” the report said.
The report recommended the board develop standards regarding conflicts of interest.
Attempts to contact Fischer on numbers listed in his name were unsuccessful. In a written response to the inspector, he said the report failed "to state any established rule, regulation, statute, or even norm I somehow violated. My performance should be measured against known, objective and accepted standards."
source: https://news.yahoo.com/director-fired-improper-law-certificate-005306216.html
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