'Lt. Justice Joe' Egizio Retires From Joliet Police After 25 Yrs

JOLIET, IL — When retiring Joliet Police Lt. Joe Egizio was growing up in Shorewood, he remembers the impact that his uncle had on his life.

Armand Egizio was a Joliet police sergeant in the 1970s and 1980s.

"And he looked like a superhero to me in his police uniform with all his equipment," Joe Egizio remarked during last week's interview at the Joliet police station. "It was always a dream of mine, not just to be a police officer, but a Joliet police officer."

By the time Joe Egizio was a sophomore at Joliet Catholic High School — he jokingly reminded Patch not to call it Joliet Catholic Academy — "I knew that's what I was going to do," he said.

"For a poor Italian kid growing up in Shorewood, I did all right. In the big picture, I had a nice career. For me, it was more about working as a team than individual work. I always liked having a partner, and you can do more when you work in two."

WORKED FOR 9 CHIEFS

A 1993 graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale with a bachelor's in administration of justice, Egizio is retiring as the detective lieutenant in charge of the criminal investigations unit at the Joliet Police Department.

He joined Joliet police in 1997 and retires with 25 years experience.

"It was an honor to serve the community. I'm 51, 25 years I spent, almost half my life here."

Among the notables:

Since January 2019, Egizio has supervised five sergeants, 26 detectives, seven evidence technicians and four civilian employees. Before that, Egizio supervised undercover investigations and surveillance as a tactical and narcotics lieutenant.

His first three years were as a patrol officer. He then served in the Neighborhood Orienting Policing Team unit, later working as operations sergeant from January 2008 until June 2010.

Egizio was a detective from June 2005 until January 2008. In 2011, he became a detective sergeant, focused on gang intelligence.

Egizio worked for nine police chiefs, starting with Joe Beazley, followed by Dave Gerdes, Fred Hayes, Mike Trafton, Brian Benton, Al Roechner, Dawn Malec, interim chief Rob Brown and now Bill Evans, who took over in February.

In the 1990s, Egizio patrolled the neighborhoods near Benton Street and Sherman Street. Sherman Street, in particular, had a reputation for gangs, drugs and gun homicides.

"There was an open air drug market at the time," Egizio recalled. "But you come to realize there are a lot of good people that wanted to work with the police. Just lead us in the right direction. We'll do our job. I've seen some really good things get done when there's a good partnership with the community and their local law enforcement."

EGIZIO SOLVES HIS FIRST MURDER CASE

The late Joliet Police Sgt. Mike Kljaich was one of his key supervisors.

"Mike was fair, but firm, which I really liked," Egizio said. "He was an excellent mentor because he was once a detective in his career.

"He encouraged me. He allowed me to work with our cases in NOPT (Neighborhood Oriented Policing Team). I always worked for good supervisors that allowed me to do my job. I was lucky enough to not work for a micromanager."

As Joliet's lieutenant of criminal investigations, "I tried to be a supportive supervisor. We get more done as a team," Egizio remarked.

His retirement comes two months after award-winning Joliet police detective Shawn Filipiak retired. "Shawn Filipiak and I probably worked just about every homicide since 2005 in some capacity," Egizio said.

The 2006 homicide of John Philpot had a lasting impact because it was Egizio's first homicide case as lead detective. Rasean Roan pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and is serving a 30-year prison sentence at the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Roan clubbed Philpot in the head with a wooden post, causing his death, on Joliet's near west side. Then he concealed the body underneath a blanket in the basement of a house.

"The family was thankful that we were able to put our time and effort into the case," Egizio reflected. "I could tell it truly gave them closure."

Another career highlight came around 2014, the recovery of about 7.5 kilos of heroin, the biggest heroin seizure in the Joliet Police Department's history, as part of a joint investigation with FBI. Egizio recalled serving seven search warrants over two days.

"That investigation ran for months, and it led to several state and federal arrests," Egizio said. "You felt satisfied you made a difference on that one. That heroin would have claimed several lives from overdoses."

JOLIET HIGH RISE FIRE

Egizio laughed about the time he did not receive a life-saving award.

He and Pete Manzoni raced to the John Murphy Building at 311 North Ottawa St. upon seeing heavy black smoke and flames in downtown Joliet. They ran up the staircase.

"So Pete and I evacuated the floor," Egizio said. "I got down on all fours because smoke rises."

The Joliet Fire Department put out the fire, while Egizio estimated he and Manzoni evacuated "five, six, maybe seven" elderly residents.

"Our squad car smelled like a bonfire," Egizio said.

When asked if he and Manzoni received any awards for their bravery, Egizio replied, "Hell, no. I got my ass chewed.

"The fire captain called the watch commander and told him we did a great job getting people off the floor and undoubtedly saved the tenants from serious injury or death. Instead of getting a award, we got an ass chewing for running into the burning building."

Egizio said there were two things he did not like about detective work.

"I did not like when the victim was a child or the elderly," he said. "Because those two classes of people are not able to defend themselves of something physical. Both children and the elderly don't have the mental capacity to realize they're being victimized."

'I'M LEAVING AT THE RIGHT TIME'

Among his other highlights, Egizio is proud he was chosen for training at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia in 2015.

"Only 1 percent of police executives are chosen to go to the police academy there at Quantico. It's the same academy the FBI recruits go to," he said.

Egizio said that retired Joliet Police Supervisor Scott Nicodemus was an important role model during his early years as a young detective.

In 2020, Egizio saw the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. There were numerous demonstrations across Joliet drawing attention to police-related issues.

At the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations by the White Castle restaurant, Egizio struck up conversations with protestors and took photographs with some of them.

"I'm big on being a people person. My mother was an old school Italian, and she said, 'Joseph, you say hi to everybody. You talk to them all the same,'" Egizio recalled.

"Law enforcement will always be a noble profession," Egizio continued. "I truly believe it's a calling. I think law enforcement's been at times the scapegoat for America. When law enforcement has a bad incident, you have to look at whether police or society could have done something differently. A lot of the things law enforcement encounters is dictated by the behavior of society."

Joliet Deputy Police Chief Sherrie Blackburn had this to say about his retirement: "Lt. Egizio is not replaceable and will be sorely missed."

"For me, personally, I'm leaving at the right time. I enjoyed it. It went by quick," Egizio said. "I'm ready to move on to the next phase of my life. Hopefully, the next 25 years mean more time for me, my family and my friends, and you never know, I may or may not resurface in local enforcement."