Sammy Ravelo : Archived

Sammy Ravelo was born in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, to working-class parents. His father owned a small business and his mother was a pharmacist. Sammy is the third born of six brothers and sisters. Due to economic and political uncertainties in the Dominican Republic, and a desire to give her children a better life, his mother decided to move permanently to the United States. Sammy arrived in New York on a travel visa, stayed and lived undocumented for several years. He was then requested for permanent residency by his mother. He attended Walton High School in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx. After graduating and unable to afford college, he worked on a variety of jobs such as packing groceries in the neighborhood supermarket and pumping at a gas station at a local gas station. In 1988 he received his permanent residence that put him on his way to public service. Shortly after receiving his permanent residence, Sammy joined the United States Navy. He is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War who liberated Kuwait. After completing his military service, Sammy returned to the Bronx and enrolled at Bronx Community College. He created the Latino Student Alliance and was a Senator in the student government. While at school he joined the New York City Police Department (NYPD) as a police cadet. After graduating, he was promoted to a police officer and served the people of New York City for 25 years. In the Police Department he worked as an undercover narcotics detective, a Sergeant in the Fugitive Enforcement Division, and a Lieutenant in Counterterrorism and led the most effective Domestic Violence team in the Bronx out of the 46th precinct. Sammy Ravelo volunteered in the United Community Center of Westchester as a mediator in wage collections for undocumented and poor immigrants after retiring from the police departemnt . In his experience, while serving in the New York City Police Department, he was able to observed the impact of gun violence and the need for sensible gun laws, the impact of an immigration policy that creates an underground economy and forces people to live in the shadows, the impact of and economy that doesn't work for everyone, the devastating impact of the opioid crisis, the impact of disastrous housing policies that hurt poor, working-class New Yorkers, among others. Sammy is the father of two children, Sammy Jr and Kevin, whom he raised in the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx.