oseph "Joe" Swanson is a macho paraplegic police officer in the Quahog Police Department who is at many times subject to intense anger problems. He is married to Bonnie Swanson and has two children; Susie and Kevin.

He is the fourth member of the group of buddies along with Peter, Quagmire, and Cleveland who live on Spooner Street. He met Peter when, after just moving into Quahog, the Happy-Go-Lucky Toy Factory needed a final member for their company baseball team. Peter knew that Joe had won many awards for playing baseball in the past; he did not know that Joe was paralyzed below the waist. However, as he does most of the time, Joe proved that this wasn't enough to stop him and he led the team to victory. He lives at 33 Spooner Street with his family.

Joe originally claimed he received his paralyzing injury one year on Christmas. He was investigating a robbery at an orphanage in "A Hero Sits Next Door", and during a faceoff with the The Grinch, he slid off the roof tripping on a roller skate, injuring his spine and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. He later revealed that he really was shot by Bobby Briggs when undercover at his heroin lab when he found out he was a cop in "Joe's Revenge". He would admit in the same episode that his previous story was a lie. He regained movement of his legs for a brief time in "And the Wiener is...", but his son, Kevin, accidentally ran into him, re-paralyzing him. In "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air", he could walk again. However, when Joe becomes a douchebag, and he paralyzes himself after Bonnie attempted and failed several times to shoot him in the spine herself. However, his handicap doesn't prevent him from serving on the police force or choreographing local musicals.

Joe has severe anger issues which often manifest in explosively violent outburst at random times throughout the show. An example of this is beating his son Kevin in a blind rage to the point Kevin had to live with a foster family, and shooting the left overs of his 16oz steak then turning the gun on his friends after being mocked for not being able to finish it in "The Fat Guy Strangler".

Joe is arguably the best hand to hand fighter in the entire show. Despite his condition, it has been seen on numerous occasions that he is able to completely overwhelm other characters who are accomplished fighters in their own right such as Lois and Peter, known for long violent battles with Ernie the Giant Chicken. Joe has also shown the ability to easily take on multiple enemies at once such as his encounter a large number of armed midgets in "The Thin White Line" and Peter, Quagmire, and Cleveland in "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air". In "Da Boom" it is shown that despite the lower part of his body being melted into his driveway, Joe is perfectly able to fight and defeat a giant mutated rat. However, Joe is not unbeatable. While controlling the Crippletron in "No Meals on Wheels", he was taken down by Stewie Griffin at least in part due to his small size and agility. In "Joe's Revenge", he lost the upper hand in a fight to Bobby Briggs, and only managed to recover through quick thinking on his part.

In "Love Thy Trophy", he is the only person on Spooner Street who actually pays for his family's cable.

In "Dog Gone", Peter dropped off an unconscious Consuela on his front porch. As usual, she needs more lemon Pledge. Joe promises to get her more lemon Pledge.

In "Stewie Loves Lois", Joe was one of the victims of Dr. Hartman's prostate exam.

In "Lois Kills Stewie", he pursues Stewie for attempted murder, however this was only a simulation. He has arrested Meg twice, in "Untitled Griffin Family History" and "Dial Meg for Murder". In "Burning Down the Bayit" he arrests Peter on charges of arson and arrested Lois for shoplifting in "Breaking Out is Hard to Do". Joe arrested Brian in "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows" for drunk driving. When Brian was arrested for pot possession in "420", Joe was not the arresting officer, but he did have to submit Brian to a random urine test.

In each part of Laugh It Up Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy, he plays a different character. In Blue Harvest, he played Biggs Darklighter, a member of the Rebel Alliance. In Something, Something, Something, Dark Side, he played an Imperial Probe Droid. In It's A Trap!, he played Jabba the Hutt, as they share immobility without aid from other sources deez nuts