蜜柚直播

In the world of the 蜜柚直播 County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, there鈥檚 only one HBuffett, and he鈥檚 not actually a sworn deputy 鈥� at least not yet. He鈥檚 Howard Buffett, who has bought large properties in 蜜柚直播 County over the last decade and given the Sheriff鈥檚 Office tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment.

Of course, he鈥檚 also the son of Warren Buffett. And soon, Sheriff Mark Dannels may deputize him for real.

蜜柚直播 County resident and reporter Beau Hodai obtained the citations as part of years of research he did on Howard Buffett鈥檚 activities in the county, research that turned into a published in January by the Phoenix New Times. The stories focus on Buffett鈥檚 embrace of the border-vigilante tradition in the county, which runs somewhat counter to Buffett鈥檚 portrayal of himself as a globe-traveling humanitarian focused on agricultural research.

But it also raised the key public-policy question of whether Buffett鈥檚 money and agenda have distorted the priorities of the department under Dannels, the Republican first elected sheriff in 2012. Both Dannels and his predecessor, Larry Dever, who died in 2012, emphasized issues of border insecurity.

With Buffett鈥檚 funding, Dannels has taken it even further. Buffett funded a financial crimes unit for the department and helped define the unit鈥檚 mission. One email obtained by Hodai, who shared with me some of the public records he obtained, shows Buffett making slight corrections to the unit鈥檚 founding mission statement.

鈥淐an you change one thing, put human trafficking and drug smuggling to keep them separate and put human trafficking first,鈥� Buffett wrote in a March 16, 2015, email to a Sheriff鈥檚 Office employee.

Hodai did not speak with Dannels for his stories, but the sheriff and I spoke Friday.

Unsurprisingly, Dannels didn鈥檛 care for Hodai鈥檚 pieces. He told me they painted a false image of Buffett, whose generosity has been fantastic for the department and hasn鈥檛 distorted its mission.

鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 demand the priorities,鈥� Dannels said of Buffett. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like any other grant. We sent the proposals to him. This is our wishes, and he either accepts it or denies it.鈥�

In particular, Dannels pointed to Buffett鈥檚 rebuilding of the county鈥檚 troubled radio communications system as crucial.

鈥淭here were areas of the county where we couldn鈥檛 even talk to deputies. That鈥檚 how bad it was,鈥� Dannels said. 鈥淲hen I proposed that to Mr. Buffett, he said, 鈥榃rite it up.鈥�

鈥淭oday we have a robust, state-of-the-art, regional communications center.鈥�

Buffett did not respond to Hodai鈥檚 interview requests. I sent word through Dannels that I wanted to interview Buffet, but did not hear back.

Clearly Buffett has done good in the county he鈥檚 adopted as a home away from his main home in Decatur, Illinois. Always using the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to make his donations, Buffett has also bought ballistic vests for all the deputies and volunteers, provided helicopters, bought new firearms for deputies and gave the department five new Ford Raptors.

The list goes on. Dannels said he鈥檚 received nothing for himself personally from Buffett and even declined an offer of a new Ford Raptor. One could argue, though, that Dannels benefits politically from Buffett鈥檚 gifts, which can be used to create goodwill for the department.

There鈥檚 an unseemly side to Buffett鈥檚 generosity 鈥� buying his way into friendship with the law-enforcement officers he admires in the places he lives. In fact, the 蜜柚直播 County Sheriff鈥檚 Department is not the first sheriff鈥檚 office Buffett has adopted. The first was located in Macon County, Illinois, where he also made multimillion-dollar donations over the years.

In Decatur, Buffett worked as a volunteer auxiliary deputy in the Sheriff鈥檚 Department, then eventually was appointed to the official position of undersheriff. When that sheriff resigned in 2017, Buffett was appointed sheriff, an office he occupied for about a year. Although he hasn鈥檛 been through a police academy, Buffett has received firearms certifications and other training, the department noted in .

In 蜜柚直播 County, Buffett has taken that admiration for law enforcement and combined it with a fascination for border security. In fact, he went out and bought himself two ranches with miles of border frontage.

As Hodai showed, Buffett has put trail cameras out on his property and followed the tradition of border militias in rural Southern 蜜柚直播 by bringing men in from out-of-state to do patrols for smugglers on his ranch property. In emails Hodai obtained through public-records requests, Buffett sent photos of apparent smugglers to friends in the Macon County Sheriff鈥檚 Department.

One deputy wrote back: 鈥淵ou need a rag tag group of macon county sheriff vigilantes to show up and kick some ass.鈥�

鈥淏ring Chad, need his enthusiasm!鈥� Buffett responded.

And indeed, Macon County friends have come out and conducted border patrols on Buffett鈥檚 property.

蜜柚直播 County Supervisor Ann English told me she sees a bit of Old West fantasy in Buffett鈥檚 蜜柚直播 County activities.

鈥淥f course the sheriff has found someone who is of great benefit financially to him,鈥� English said, referring to Buffett鈥檚 donations to the department. 鈥淏uffett also benefits because he feels like he鈥檚 part of the Old West.

鈥淗e鈥檚 living a dream 鈥� that鈥檚 the way I look at it.鈥�

English and the board have objected to the Sheriff鈥檚 Department accepting gifts from Buffett without going through the board, as the process is supposed to work. But she thinks they鈥檝e worked that out over the last year. She told me she worried when she heard about Buffett issuing traffic citations, which was news to her.

鈥淚f you ask me, that鈥檚 stepping across the line,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e shouldn鈥檛 be carrying a gun, stopping people for something that he perceives as against the law.鈥�

Dannels told me that鈥檚 not what happened 鈥� that Buffett was with a deputy who performed the traffic stops, though Buffett participated, too. There鈥檚 no evidence of the other deputy鈥檚 name on the citations, though.

Anyway, Buffett may get the right to make traffic stops and act like a full-fledged law-enforcement officer soon.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a process where I can swear him in, as long as he鈥檚 recognized by another state,鈥� Dannels told me. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking into that right now to see what we鈥檙e going to do. It鈥檚 under review.鈥�

In their review, they should probably consider just how much influence a wealthy man should be allowed to purchase in a public police agency. A deputy鈥檚 badge isn鈥檛 supposed to be for sale.