Retired school resource officer John Pejoski is running for office after a police career built around school safety and relationships with students.
JACKSON, NJ — For years, Jackson students knew John “Pojo” Pejoski as the officer they could turn to when something went wrong. Now the retired school resource officer is seeking a Township Council seat, bringing that community connection into the November 3 election.
Pejoski is running with fellow council candidate Brian McCarron on the Republican organization’s endorsed ticket in Jackson, and he hopes his former students will come out on Election Day to help him win.
His background with the Jackson Police Department includes patrol work, nearly two decades in school resource assignments and leadership in youth substance abuse prevention.
When he retired, it was a shock the entire community and heartbreaking to many of the students at Jackson Liberty High School. On his last day, he walked out of school to find that students plastered his patrol cruiser with sticky notes thanking him for all he did for them.
A sendoff written on hundreds of sticky notes
When Pejoski prepared to retire in March 2022, Jackson Liberty High School students decorated his patrol vehicle with hundreds of sticky notes. Across the windshield, they arranged the notes into an American flag.
SNN’s coverage of Pejoski’s retirement described an officer who helped students work through problems while keeping watch over the school. He joined the Jackson Police Department as a patrolman in 1997 and began school resource work in 2003.
His presence extended to sporting events and the school’s “red zone” student activities.
At the time, school board President Michael Walsh said Pejoski had “a tremendous connection with our students.”
Walsh also praised the school resource officers’ work “to protect, to educate and to connect with our school community.”
Police honors and prevention work
Pejoski’s retirement account listed recognition as Jackson PBA Member of the Year in 2004 and Police Services Division Officer of the Year in 2019. It also noted a School Resource Officer of the Month award from the National Association of School Resource Officers and service at Ground Zero following the September 11 attacks.
His work with young people also brought him before the governing body he now hopes to join.
Pejoski also served as chairman of the Jackson Municipal Alliance, and township records document his advocacy for maintaining substance abuse prevention funding and programs for schoolchildren.
That role involved prevention efforts beyond daily police assignments, connecting his school work with a broader township program.
Running on public safety and community services
The Republican organization’s endorsement of “Pojo” identified preserving open space, strengthening public safety and improving services for seniors and families as priorities for the Kuhn, McCarron and Pejoski ticket. Those are the slate’s stated goals.
Pejoski is one of six candidates competing for two council seats. Christopher Pollak and Amanda Trombetta are running with mayoral candidate Elliott Shem-Tov, while Paul Sarti and Casey V. Jackson are running with Brandon Rose’s Jackson United team.
For residents who knew him through Jackson’s schools, Pejoski enters the race with a familiar nickname and a public service record that predates his campaign.
