Joseph R. Kozenczak was the former Chief of Police of Des Plaines, Illinois, where he worked for 27 years. After his retirement from the police force in 1989, he worked as a regional security director in the United States and Canada for TNT Express, Vice President of Investigations for John Reid and Associates, Criminal Justice Specialist for the State of Illinois, and practiced as an Illinois licensed private investigator. He is recognized for his role of Chief Investigator of the John Wayne Gacy serial murder investigation in 1978.