Investigators with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability have called on the Chicago Police Department to strip a North Side officer of his police powers over “inappropriate contact” with female students while working as a part-time security guard at a local high school, recently released records show.
Officer Kenvar Pujoe remained on active duty as of Thursday, according to CPD, working in the alternate response section in the Rogers Park (24th) District.
In a Feb. 3 memo to Superintendent Larry Snelling, COPA’s interim Chief Administrator LaKenya White also recommended that Pujoe be removed from his part-time post at Sullivan High School, as well as “all other secondary employment.”
Pujoe was placed on unpaid administrative leave in February, pending the results of an investigation by the Chicago Public Schools’ Office of the Inspector General. CPS doesn’t comment on personnel matters, but sent a letter to Sullivan families notifying them of the investigation. CPD does not comment on pending investigations.
White wrote that Pujoe had been driving students around in his personal vehicle, paying for female students’ manicures, bringing food to their houses as late as 3 a.m. and trying to bring students to school events and competitions even though those students were not supposed to be attending. Pujoe also worked as a coach at the school.
Two people told COPA investigators that a female student had come forward to speak about an interaction with Pujoe, described in the memo as “inappropriate contact.” One person who spoke to investigators said he believed Pujoe to be “grooming” students.
In the memo to Snelling, White wrote that someone — evidently a school administrator whose name was withheld — had spoken to Pujoe about respecting boundaries with female students four or five times and specifically about his history of driving students in his personal car, White wrote.
When confronted about his alleged conduct, the memo states that Pujoe cited his status as a police officer as a justification for driving students around.
“Officer Pujoe told him that as a CPD officer, he holds responsibility for the students’ safety,” the memo read. “Officer Pujoe has received multiple write-ups for transporting students in his vehicle.”
The memo also outlined instances where Pujoe had tried to bring a student to a downstate athletic competition and attempted to get students hotel rooms for competitions they were not supposed to attend. It later stated that several students had been seen getting off a bus from an event they hadn’t been permitted to attend and told someone that Pujoe would be taking them home. He was fired as a coach “due to various concerns,” the memo stated, and allegedly spoke publicly against the school principal.
White went on to recommend that Pujoe be relieved of his police powers and that department brass “reevaluate” his side gig “to ensure the safety of students (and) maintain public confidence.”
Public records show that the COPA complaint listed on White’s memo remains pending.
