Months after student leaders called for his resignation, Joliet Junior College’s police chief this week gave notice that he plans to retire in July.
Police Chief Pete Comanda was put under a personal improvement plan, which was set to expire at the end of May, following what was described as “racially based statements” he made last year. Comanda, who has headed the college’s police department for 17 years, was given a written warning following complaints stemming from an August training exercise, according to a Nov. 6 memo from Rob Galick, the college’s vice president of administrative services.
Comanda, 67, has maintained that the allegations against him were either completely false or taken out of context. Though Joliet Junior College Board members Wednesday accepted his notice to retire, there was no discussion about the chief during the board’s regular meeting.
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“My leaving has nothing to do with any of the false allegations,” Comanda said Thursday.
He said he had been planning to retire long before any of the controversy began.
When the allegations came to light, however, he said he told college officials he would stay on as long as needed to clear his name.
“If I felt I hadn’t cleared my name, I wouldn’t leave,” he said. “The people who count know what’s going on.”
Though board members did not discuss Comanda’s retirement, college President Judy Mitchell issued a written statement.
“My thoughts and focus continue to be on actively addressing concerns related to issues raised earlier this year, and most importantly to assure our campus they are safe at JJC and they are respected at JJC,” Mitchell wrote. “Every decision we make and action we take is driven by this philosophy.”
Earlier this year, several student leaders spoke at a board meeting voicing their concerns about Comanda. The students said they felt unsafe on campus with Comanda as chief, pointing to reports about his statements. The board was presented with a petition containing 150 student signatures demanding Comanda’s resignation.
Sophomore Sebastian Gonzalez, who heads the Student Government Association, questioned why Comanda was being allowed to retire and leave on his own terms.
“Retirement is a privilege,” Gonzalez said. “Comanda does not deserve that privilege.”
The allegations involved an August training exercise in which an African American officer was acting as a perpetrator. Comanda directed another attendee to use the zip tie handcuffs on the officer and “hang him from a tree,” according to Galick’s memo, titled “final outcome, written warning and performance improvement plan.”
The memo cites another instance in which Comanda equated the Black Lives Movement to a terrorist organization. The November memo also charged Comanda had created a “hostile work environment.”
Galick wrote that he has personally seen Comanda raise his voice and “dominate a conversation for an extended period of time” when he gets angry or frustrated. Galick also mentioned concerns Comanda used security cameras to “keep an eye on select employees in your department.”
Though student leaders called for his resignation, Comanda also had support within the college community and presented a petition signed by 23 members of his staff and more than 600 students.
Comanda said he feels he can retire now that a project to improve the police department facilities has progressed. Though the project likely will be delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he said design work has started on a project that will update campus police facilities.
“People in the department have worked there for more than 20 years,” he said. “During that time there’s been discussion (about a building project) but it’s never happened. This was the last thing on my bucket list from when I first started.”
Despite the recent controversy, Comanda said he has enjoyed his more than 43 years in law enforcement. Prior to joining JJC, Comanda worked at the Country Club Hills Police Department, rising to the rank of acting police chief.
“It’s been a great career,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.