The Felonies and the Firefighter

[XLFD]

Many occupations in Michigan bar felons from working in their profession through the licensing process through "good moral character" provisions that need to be met before a license to work is granted.  Among these licensed jobs which effectively ban ex-cons are police/correction officers, teachers, and many health care positions (dentists, nurses, etc.).  It may be good policy to have such a demand in these positions that requires the public to have a degree of trust in the the people supplying the services offered.

Firefighting in Michigan does not require a license, and it probably shouldn't, but those who rely on these folks-- who may need to enter their home during an emergency to knock down a fire, render medical assistance, teach children fire safety, or conduct fire safety inspections-- to have good moral character like those in the professions they parallel.  

Most municipalities in Michigan recognize that the public needs to trust firefighters not to lift your jewelry box or rare coin collection when they enter your house after you are commanded to leave it, that they won't pick your pocket when you have been knocked unconscious in a car crash, or that they won't take undue liberties with your child when teaching them to stop, drop and roll.  So many departments expect their probationers to be felony-free that some websites declare it as a requirement:  

Indeed, it is a requirement in many Michigan fire departments; applicants will be disqualified from joining the department explicitly in Detroit, Auburn Hills, Grand Rapids, Flint, Muskegon Heights, etc.  Consider that Muskegon Heights is often recognized as the most dangerous city in Michigan, yet its firefighters cannot be ex-felons of any type just like some of the other dangerous cities listed above.  As one would expect, firefighters in the safest city in Michigan have even more stringent qualifications, but some department, like Ludington, do not publicly list disqualifications for their firefighter candidates. 

Few people are immune from having done something foolish when they were younger, most realize their error and move on to doing better things.  Some fire departments recognize that and offer forgiveness for lesser violations of the law, particularly if they happened many years ago.  When this author joined the Ludington Fire Department, he had to explain an incident that happened in college fifteen years previously involving entering the dorm's food service area after hours one time and taking off with less than $100 of food items.  Not my finest hour, but I learned to be a better person for the experience, never broke the law since, and it fell short of being a felony.

The picture above is from 2021's Shop with a Hero at the Ludington Meijer store.  Two firefighters are present, the older one closest is Bruce Pelletier, president and co-owner of his own analytical lab, with 44 years of experience on the Ludington Fire Department (making him the most senior member following the retirements of Asst. Chief Ron Jabrocki and Lieutenant Fred Hackert).  Pelletier is definitely a hero in many ways.  

The younger Ludington firefighter in the background is named Austin Billings, records I've received shows that he applied to be on the department in October 2021, and he apparently was successful with getting on the department.  The name sounded somewhat familiar and a simple internet search shown why that was the case. 

"Man with extensive criminal history arrested for home invasion, assault" screams the Mason County Press headline written in June 2018.  The article itself goes into details about this man:

A 26-year-old former Ludington man was arrested June 4 by Ludington Police Department on a charge relating to a home invasion and assault that allegedly took place last October. Austin Marten Billings of Ann Arbor, was extradited to Mason County from Washenaw County after he was arrested there recently.  

Billings was arraigned this week in Mason County’s 79th District Court for home invasion first degree, aggravated assault, and being a third-time habitual offender. He is being accused of entering a home in the 400 block of East Foster Street and assaulting his former girlfriend’s boyfriend while he was sleeping. He then allegedly left the premises and police were unable to locate him. At the time, he was also wanted on an outstanding warrant from Manistee County...

Billings’ has an extensive criminal history. On March 1, 2017, he was found guilty in 79th District Court for using a non-narcotic controlled substance and was sentenced to 69 days in jail with credit for 68 days served; one year discretionary jail for two years...  

On Nov. 12, 2014, he was found guilty in Mason County’s 51st Circuit Court for possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced Dec. 16, 2014, to one year in jail with credit for 89 days served; serving four months up front with the balance to be held at the court’s discretion; two years probation...

On Sept. 20, 2014, he was found guilty in 79th District Court for fighting – disorderly person. He was sentenced to two days in jail with credit for two days served; 30 days discretionary jail for one year; and $600 fines and costs.

On June 25, 2013, he was found guilty in 79th District Court for breaking and entering without owner’s permission. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail; $580 in fines and costs; 90 days discretionary jail for one year

On Sept. 25, 2012, he was found guilty in 79th District Court for controlled substance possession non-Narcotic, receiving and concealing property less than $200. His sentenced included 273 days, serving four months up front and a 30-day license suspension with a restriction for 150 days.

The MCP fails to mention some juvenile offenses of larceny in a building and minor in possession that took place in separate occasions in 2009, but overall the local court has assigned 18 different court cases where Billings is a defendant found guilty in some way, and/or arraigned.  The outstanding warrant in Manistee County and his arrest in Ann Arbor indicate he hasn't kept his nose clean when leaving the county.  He hasn't turned 30 yet.

As you can see from his rap sheet, his crimes in our community have not been victimless, and they are quite troubling when one considers that he is now been presented to the public as a trusted firefighter.  He has busted into a building in 2009 and 2013 for nefarious ends, then continued that in 2017 with the additional felony offense of violently assaulting a romantic rival while they slept.  His 2014 arrest and conviction of fighting, shows that he had not lost his violent tendencies.  This would seem to indicate that he has not figured out that it's wrong to go into someone's property without their permission or how to deal with other people peacefully. 

He hasn't figured out how to control his drug habits either in the past, as noted by his MIP in 2009, followed by the multiple drug counts in 2012, 2014, and 2017.  From what I've heard, there very well could be an arrest in this same vein in his future.   A long history of illegal drug use is a disqualifier for most fire departments, for good reason.  You don't want someone driving a fire truck or using the jaws of life while impaired.   These offenses often have their own victims in the community. 

Mr. Billings seems like he should have been a controversial addition to the department.  When this author was interviewed by multiple officers to get on the LFD earlier this century, I answered several questions on my qualifications, history, and aptitude before being hired.  I made a FOIA request to the city for Billings' application and any kinds of evaluations made on him to be on the LFD (including notes/questions/answers made during the normal interviewing process made by the panel of fire officers). 

I received his online application and that was it.  To his credit, he did mention some of his criminal past, but not by any means all of his issues over the last seven years, he adds one of his 12-year-old offenses, however:

Doing a lot of heroin and other drugs can negatively affect one's memory, I hear, but he's left out the home invasion (1st degree) in 2018 and the 2017 drug offense which both were felonies and occurred within the last seven years.  As the experts at firerescue1.com explain to firefighter candidates looking to hide their checkered past:  "If you are caught lying during an interview, or any stage of the hiring process, you are done."

But apparently, the LFD, led by Chief John Henderson, former mayor of Ludington for twelve years, didn't conduct an interview with Austin Billings.  I received no records beyond the application.  One has to believe that Chief Henderson saw the felonies on the application, did a background check and found even more, and saw the long history of property and drug felonies in Billings' recent history.  Despite the warning signs, he and other officers in the department conducted no further evaluations of Austin Billings' fitness for the job; likewise, the topic never came up at an LFD meeting, where Lt. Pelletier takes comprehensive notes of all that is discussed.  

A little over a month later, Firefighter Austin Billings, the man with the extensive criminal history, is playing the hero, escorting young children to the toy aisles in Meijer, hopefully allowing them to spend all of that donated money from the community on Christmas gifts rather than skimming some to foster his bad habits.  Is high-risk hiring a standard that our fire department and we as a community should permit in America's most trusted profession?

[Willy]

I think the big question here is, why was he hired and who promoted his hiring? Is he a relative of another member of the LFD or of the City Hall establishment? Something fishy going on regarding his hiring. I can see forgiving a minor infraction regarding the law but this dude has a serious criminal record. So what the hell is going on? Firefighters may be a very trusted group but not Ludington's fire dept. when they pull a stunt like this.

I'm curious X about what happened in your investigation of the missing money from the "shop with a cop" situation a few years back?

[XLFD]

Chief Jerry Funk retired on the day that forever will live in infamy in swampish hearts in Washington DC, January 6, 2021, succeeded by John Henderson.  One should recall that when Henderson was elected mayor for the first time, the city shortly got rid of the police chief and city manager and replaced them with Mark Barnett and John Shay respectively.  Both Johns and Mark seriously underperformed in the realm of ethics over the next decade plus, so it's not too surprising that he's chosen another person who is not a paragon of virtue starting out.

The missing SWAC money was never fully accounted for in the records and for the three times I presented it in front of the city council, Chief Barnett went fully theatrical attacking me rhetorically once, ignored it another time, and totally deflected the issue of unaccounted for funds by pointing out how virtuous the LPD was, and how demonic I was for questioning their holiness.  

The only thing about the chief that was holy was being holy unaccountable for the shortcoming.  The City continues to run expenses and revenues of the SWAC program through the general fund, and it's just not what they should be doing to be consistent with accounting principles, transparent and accountable for those who donate and buy overpriced pies at Thanksgiving time.  

Thanks for the amusing graph, I always look forward to the creative graphics you generously supply with your replies to our articles at the Ludington Torch.

[Freedom Seeker]

That's quite the troubling background of Austin Billings, Ludington Firefighter. Is this a volunteer or paid position? Maybe Henderson overlooked the felonies and drug use to rehab him sort of as community service? If so, not the best place for this, imo.

[XLFD]

It's a part-paid position, where each firefighter gets paid quarterly.  Back when I was on the LFD, we'd get around $750 gross pay each quarter, which was a good deal for the taxpayer once you figured out how many hours you put in every three months going to calls, training, maintaining the station/equipment, and going to bimonthly meetings.

My hunch is that two basic things have operated in Austin's favor.  1)  The retirements of three seasoned officers over this last year, the general difficulty of getting workers in the Covid-19 era, and the high turnaround of younger firefighters on the LFD has probably made him desperate for help on the department to fill openings.  2) The hubris of John Henderson has him likely believing that he can reform Billings into a fully-functional firefighter, erasing the existing faults that most people would be reluctant to overlook.  John has had another bad penny in the past, which he ultimately had to quietly get rid of.  I see the same thing happening here when the billings cost becomes just too high.

[stump]

   Bad Penny, that's a good one LOL

[Freedom Seeker]

Yes!  I got a kick out of your hidden symbolism too, X.  And you know, it could have been a good penny, but a bad jon?

[XLFD]

It's a matter of perspective, FS; undoubtedly the penny thought it was a bad john. 

And how do you recognize a bad john?  Easy, they're still full of crap even after you jiggle the handle over and over again.

[Freedom Seeker]

Hoping another jiggle of the handle might flush away some of the crap that has been too long in the irony of bad decisions by COL administrators--this latest being a poor oversight.

[Willy]

This story is just dripping with irony. Back before Mr. Billings was employed by the LFD, he was engaged in felonious activity. At or near the same time another LFD employee was being harassed, threatened and forced out of the LFD for challenging the incompetence of those that were soon to be the arresters of Mr. Billings. The other "bad penny" rightfully and legally challenged the inept authority of the police over a phony bicycle violation for which he received a citation and was then encouraged to depart his employment with the LFD.  How things have changed or have they. A good and decent citizen was treated like a criminal while a convicted criminal is given the red carpet treatment and invited to join the establishment.

I want people to understand this is not a criticism of Mr. Billings. If he's qualified for the job and is now rehabilitated then good for him. My beef is with  some of the characters who have been running this town for years and who have been engaged in shady deals and dealing in corrupt management.  

[Freedom Seeker]

Said so well, Willy, again, what irony.