Octavio Pisano to return to ‘Law and Order: SVU’ as detective Joe Velasco in Season 27

The long-running procedural drama ‘Law and Order: SVU’ is set to welcome a fan favorite character. For Season 27, Octavio Pisano will once again return as Joe Velasco. The actor is currently shooting for the series in New York. Pisano departed the ‘Law & Order’ spinoff as a series regular in October 2025.

Details about when he will appear and what those episodes will cover have not been announced yet.

Octavio Pisano’s return to ‘Law & Order: SVU’

According to Deadline, Octavio Pisano is officially returning as Detective Joe Velasco in ‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 27. The actor is currently filming an episode in New York, and sources close to the production say his character will be operating undercover. Pisano departed from the series when his character left SVU to take an undercover DEA assignment in San Diego focused on drug trafficking.

Pisano will appear in at least one episode, but the total count is unknown at this time.

Octavio Pisano as Detective Joe Velasco

Pisano first came aboard the long-running procedural as a recurring cast member in season 23, and just a month later, in October 2021, he was promoted to a series regular after Velasco had become a fan-favorite character. Pisano has also portrayed Velasco in three crossover episodes on ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime.’

In addition to starring on ‘Law & Order: SVU’, Pisano also made his feature directorial debut with Wet Under Blue Sky, a boxing drama which he also wrote and stars in.

About ‘Law & Order: SVU’

'Law & Order: SVU’ follows the lives of the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, an elite squad of detectives who investigate crimes of sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence. ‘Law & Order: SVU’ currently stars Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Kelli Giddish, Peter Scanavino, and Kevin Kane.