A former Baltimore City (Western and Northern Districts) and Crofton, Maryland Police Officer and Kingwood, West Virginia Chief of Police - Joel has also served as General Manager of Alpine Lake Resort in Terra Alta, West Virginia and as a Security Consultant based in Morgantown, West Virginia.

Joel was appointed to the 2015-2016 term of the Morgantown West Virginia daily newspaper's Community Advisory Board, ​As such he was a featured guest editorial columnist in The Dominion Post. He is also a regular contributing writer to the Blue Now family of law enforcement magazines (thebluemagazine.com) and was awarded as NJ Blue Now magazine 2017 Senior Journalist of the Year.

Raised in the Baltimore, Maryland suburban neighborhood of Rodgers Forge, he now makes his home in North Central West Virginia with his wife and family pets.

Still Seeking Justice was Joel's big debut as a writer. What began as an idea dating back into the 1980's blossomed into a chronicle of an entire career in law enforcement. Joel has also contributed some true-life stories for the book All Cops Don't Eat Donuts by Anthony Naturale and is featured on the books front cover along with other select contributors.