Joe was born on Wednesday April 2nd 1980 to parents Joseph and Maureen Wood. His father was a reknowned Oregon lawyer, a named partner in Smith, Wood & Peterson. His mother was a home-maker. His upbringing was uneventful, though his father worked long hours and so he became much closer to his mother.
He attended public schools in Portland and graduated from Riverdale Hish School in 1998, aged 18. His grades were slightly above average, with his most notable achievements being in sport. His father wanted him to follow suit and become a lawyer, but Joe found academics all too taxing, a didn't like the idea of another six years of studying. Instead he opted to take a shorter course in Criminal & Forensic Psyschology, a science bachelorate, which was offerred at only a handful of colleges along the western seaboard. Due to his sporting interests Sierra Falls took his eye, their football and athletics teams being among the most competetive in California. He entered the university later that year and did surprisingly well.
He aimed to go into professional football, but in his junior year, during one of the state championship matches, he suffered a tackle which broke his right leg in two places. After surgery, the insertion of a permanent metal plate, and several weeks of physiotherapy Joe was able to walk again. He was told however that he would never play football or any contact sport professionally. He struggled through college for the final year, determined to achieve something, but unsure of what to do afterwards.
Joe graduated in 2002, and that year at a career's convention got talking to one of the SFPD recruiting officers. He had never thought of working for the 'other side' as his father referred to them, but he liked the sound of the work and the variety. He applied following his graduation and after barely gaining medical acceptance, took the entry exam and was accepted into the SFPD Academy.
He graduated from the Academy that year and was assigned to the North District of SFPD. He worked there for three years on patrol and thoroughly enjoyed it. He was, however, often disappointed to find people took over his investigations whenever they became 'interesting'. He would discover a series of crime occuring and attempt to look into them, but before he knew it, the job had been assigned to a detective. It was this that drove him to take the detectives exam in 2004.
Joe passed the exam and the interview the following year, his background study in Criminal Psychology being a great help. He spent a year with the Criminal Investigations Detective Bureau, before passing his Sergeants exam, and being attached to the Anti-Crime Detective Bureau.
During his 6 month period in Anti-Crime, Joe uncovered a small drugs supply gang, who were believed to have connections with Chinese gang crime in the city. His discovery of the gang came from overhearing a conversation on a night out in the South Beach area. He quickly ascertained the location of a deal and convinced the department Lieutenant to mount an operation to capture the deal. As a result six people were convicted of drugs trafficking and Joe received the Barlow award.
After his six month attachment Joe was asked to remain in Anti-Crime, but despite his achievements he felt a sense of satisfaction from serving the public directly and dealing with the victims as well as the suspects. He returned to the CIDB in October 2006. It was around this time that Joe met Sophia Archer. Sophia owned a small bookstore in South Beach, which was the scene of burglary shortly after Joe's return to CIDB. The pair got on during the investigation and began to meet regularly, initially to discuss the case. It was not long before the two were going out on dates and after the case was closed unsuccessful they began a relationship. After twelve months together Sophia now lives with Joe in his apartment in South Beach.
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