Community Corner

Channahon's Longest-Serving Employee Steps Down from Job as Cop

Lieutenanat Mark Fischer has tracked down the origins of wild screams in the night and tracked down information on a notorious murderer during his 33 years with the Channahon Police Department. His last day is July 31.

After serving 33 years—the longest duty of any employee in the history of the Village of Channahon—lieutenant Mark Fischer is retiring from the police force. His last day on the job is July 31.

He was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene when convicted murderer Christopher Vaughn dumped the bodies of his wife and their three children off Interstate-55 near the bridge over the Des Plaines River.

His job was to secure the area so investigators could begin gathering evidence. He doesn’t talk much about the gruesome images etched into the back of his mind or the regional and national headlines that brought unsolicited and unwanted notoriety to the Village following the shootings.

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He does talk about an incident that raised the hair on the back of his neck when he was a rookie patrol officer. The peacock story has gained traction as Fischer, 60, has begun to say his goodbyes around the community. He will devote much of his time to caring for his wife, Gail, and raising their two grandchildren, Erik, 14, and Jessica, 13.

“Ask Mark about the peacock story when he first started on the department,” Village trustee Missy Schumacher said. “It’s a funny story he told me.”

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“The Rittoff’s had a small farm down on Blackberry Lane in Channahon,” Fischer said. “When I was a rookie patrolman—probably had only a few weeks on the job—I was patrolling on the midnight shift. Of course, back then we had one officer for the whole town. I was patrolling on a summer evening with my windows rolled down so I could hear any activity going on.

“I went down Blackberry Lane—to check that area. All of a sudden, I heard a loud scream. It sounded just like a woman screaming at the top of her lungs. I was a little startled. I looked around—got out with my flashlight, didn’t see anything.

“All of a sudden, I heard it again. Of course, the hair on the back of your neck kind of stands up. I didn’t have anybody else to call. So, I had to investigate it myself. Finally, what I found—on a telephone pole on the farm—there was a huge male peacock. When they get excited, they have a scream that sounds just like a woman screaming.

“It was kind of an education for me. When I told that to one of the Rittof’s, they all just laughed. I think their comment was, ‘We were wondering when that would happen.’ ”

Fischer grew up a City boy, not far from Chicago’s Lincoln Park. He earned his criminal justice degree from Triton College in River Grove. His wife’s roots were in this area and so was his first job opportunity in law enforcement.

And his last.

He started with the Channahon Police Department in 1980—back when officers carried notepads and logged arrests with an ink pen—and worked his way up to sergeant in 1990. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2000. One of his jobs was to oversee the Village’s police records department.

Another was to mentor young colleagues.

“We’ve gotten along great—his personality is very accommodating,” Channahon sergeant Shane Casey said. “He’s a very patient person, a wealth of knowledge. No one knows Channahon better than this guy.

“When people ask for old markers, it’s like, ‘Hey, I’m looking for Miller’s Bridge.’ And you’d be like, ‘Where’s Miller’s Bridge?’ You’d always call Mark. He would know the acronyms and the nicknames for everything around town. So, if you needed something, that was the go-to guy.”

Channahon Village Administrator Joe Pena calls Fischer a rare breed of employee—one who has aged right along with the community and adopted to change, particularly in technology.

“From a law enforcement perspective, one the biggest changes we’ve seen in our business has been in technology and how that’s interacted in our business,” Pena said. “Mark (Fischer) is kind of from same mold as I am—as far as the number of years. When we first came on the job—they probably walked him in, gave him the keys to the car and said, ‘Don’t get in too much trouble.’ That was our training ground.

“And, today, it’s a little different than that, and thank goodness for that. People like Mark have brought the professionalism up to where now when you come on at a place like Channahon you have a very structured program. Mark was very instrumental in putting a lot of that together.”

Channahon Police chief Jeff Wold remembers being greeted by Fischer when he first joined the staff 18 years ago—how he showed him the ropes and served as his training officer. Wold has leaned on Fischer often over the years as the two have developed a close working relationship as well as a friendship akin to that of brothers.

And that’s why it’s so hard for Wold to bid his buddy farewell.

“As I became an administrator here with the department—that’s a whole different world than the enforcement side,” Wold said. “And Mark (Fischer) was there to walk me through it. I tell you, ‘An hour ago, we were sitting in a meeting, and Mark was walking me through the next step of some of the things that he has done over the years that still need to be done.’ Through his whole career, he’s been there for me. He’s already told me, ‘He says, if you need something from me, call me. I’m willing to come in and help you.’

“He’s an amazing law enforcement officer and an amazing person. Very kind-hearted, compassionate. We’re going to lose something here when Mark retires.”

“When I started in 1980, Channahon was a small community, geographic-wise and plus with the amount of population,” Fischer said. “But there was a very good hometown feel to it. People were friendly and treated the police with respect.

“I think the difference between then and now is the town has grown by 13 times—the population. It’s just like the rest of the country. There is kind of a melting pot here now. There are people from Chicago, the suburbs and from Joliet and all the surrounding areas.

“So, there’s a lot of different type of people, different cultures moving in. But I think with the quality of services here, with the park district, the fire department and everything, that brings everybody together. You still maintain that small-town feel.”

Inside the town watering holes, everybody knows your name.

“I have literally known Mark (Fischer) since I was a child,” Schumacher said. “He came to the department when my grandfather was mayor and Channahon was a tiny, virtually unknown community.

“Over the span of his career, he has been instrumental in bringing Channahon PD from a fledgling department to an accredited agency. We are indebted to him for his years of dedicated service to our community and wish him the best in his retirement.”









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