Top cop benches Chicago police officer who has racked up the most complaints in recent years
Joseph Vecchio racked up more complaints than any other officer in his six years on the Chicago Police Department, many of them stemming from his work on a tactical team that’s developed a notorious reputation.
Vecchio was stripped of his policing powers late last year after the city’s police oversight boss told Supt. Larry Snelling about the “concerning number of complaints” he faced.
He had been the subject of 76 investigations since he joined the department in October 2019, wrote LaKenya White, the interim chief administrator of the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. At the time, he faced allegations of domestic abuse, civil rights violations and providing false statements about traffic stops involving guns.
“When COPA’s Policy, Research, and Development Unit conducted an analysis of complaint data since 2019, it revealed that Officer Vecchio has the highest number of log number investigations in the entire Department,” White wrote to Snelling on Oct. 6, 2025.
"Although many of these cases are still under investigation, the increasing number of complaints against Officer Vecchio suggests the need for immediate intervention by CPD.”
Attorneys who have represented Vecchio didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Most of the complaints came as Vecchio worked on a Near North District tactical team that has come under intense scrutiny, White said.
In December 2024, a COPA supervisor told Michael Barz, the district commander at the time, that officers on the team had accrued 50 complaints over the past year “related to traffic stops, street stops, searches and unprofessional conduct.”
Many of the closed investigations against the officers resulted in sustained allegations, COPA Director of Investigations Steffany Hreno told Barz.
Over 90% of the complaints involved officers stopping African Americans, according to Hreno. The district — which covers parts of the Near North Side, West Town, Lincoln Park and Logan Square — has a Black population of just 6%.
The department has been reforming its traffic stop practices after Dexter Reed was killed in a shootout with members of the Harrison District tactical team in March 2024.
Still, Hreno said officers in Vecchio’s unit were accused of using stops as a pretext to probe for other crimes and often used profanities, insults and threats of violence — even when a sergeant was present. They also failed to complete necessary paperwork and turn on their body cameras in a timely manner, she said.
Hreno asked Barz to ensure the officers follow the rules, act respectfully and “engage in constitutional policing that is consistent with the mission and values of the Chicago Police Department.”
A month before the letter was sent, Barz smiled alongside Vecchio when he was awarded the 2024 First Responder of the Year award by the River North Residents Association. Barz retired last May after being demoted and was placed on the city’s do-not-hire list for fostering a hostile work environment.
At the time of White’s letter, Vecchio had been suspended 15 days over a “domestic incident” and had earned a two-day suspension and a reprimand for reporting violations. He also had sustained eight other complaints that were either being reviewed or grieved, and ten violations for lesser misconduct.
Vecchio has been named in at least 15 lawsuits, four of which have been settled, according to federal court records. Two of those cases alone have cost city taxpayers $100,000, according to the Chicago Law Department.
Rodney Ipaye alleged in a lawsuit that he was the victim of “racial profiling” during a series of stops by Vecchio and other cops. Some of the officers called Ipaye a racial slur and other “derogatory language,” while Vecchio and another cop “unjustifiably drew their firearms,” the lawsuit states.
The case was settled for $80,000 last April.