Meet Joe Giacalone, a 19 year law enforcement Supervisor and Commanding Officer of a Cold Case Squad that has investigated hundreds of homicide and missing person cases throughout his career.
Joe Giacalone has a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice with a Specialty in Crime and Deviance. He is also an Adjunct Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and is the author of the forthcoming textbook “The Criminal Investigative Function: A Guide for New Investigators” that will come out in January 2011. You can find his website here.
Joe tweets under the account name @ColdCaseSquad when he can figure it out!
Get to know Joe Giacalone better!
1: What is your most favourite part of the day?
You can tell by all of the things that I am involved with that I am a night person who requires little sleep. Between regular work, teaching, writing, and now blogging, I realize that there isn’t enough time in the day to get done what I want to, but I give it one hell of a shot!
2. What is the worst kind of person you ever sat next to on a flight?
I am not a great fan of flying. But on one work related trip, I was booked next to someone who wouldn’t stop talking. I don’t sleep while flying so I like to read or write. For hours, she talked and couldn’t see my not so subtle hints. I had to end it when she even told me about the fungus on her big toe!
3: Were you ever in a situation where you came up short with a good come back? You can give it now!
In my early days as a new police supervisor I said something to the Captain that he didn’t like. He stated, “Remember, you are speaking to a superior officer.” I wish I would have said, “Just a higher ranking one,” and then walked away.
4: Which trials/cases still haunts you till today?
In my job there are a few but if I had to pick one it would have to be the double murder of two young boys. They were both brutally stabbed to death and dumped at the bottom of a staircase near the compactor room.
We had a suspect, but could not gather the physical or forensic evidence that would have been necessary to establish probable cause. But, I haven’t given up yet!
5: If you have a blog, how did you get started? Who or what inspired you to blog?
I always wrote articles for others and finally realized I could do it for myself! I recently started the Cold Case Squad to highlight cases from all over the world so maybe someone somewhere knows something and contacts their local police department or a crime stoppers unit. I also get a chance to share some of my expertise with those in the law enforcement community as well as my students.
6: Did you end up in the profession of your childhood dreams?
My mother would have bet the house that I would have been a fireman because that was all I ever talked about. However, when the time came to register for the fire exam, they had put hiring on hold. So I took the police test that day instead and here I am nearly 20 years later with absolutely no regrets.
7. Your worst vacation experience?
My wife and I hadn’t been away in awhile and decided to spend a long weekend out on the East End. I knew we were in for it when we attempted to take a shower before going out for dinner, only to find out the boiler was being fixed and there was no hot water. We dealt with it and made it through the showers without having a heart attack. Later on we returned only to find out there still wasn’t any hot water and now the heat wasn’t working either! We should have left then but I was a glutton for punishment.
About 2 o’clock in the morning the heat came on, all was good. At 3 o’clock the boiler blew up, sending smoke and fire throughout the hotel. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but what an adventure!