Among the four officers promoted to the rank of Deputy Sheriff by Sheriff Jewell Williams the first week of June was Dolores Ramos — the first female Latino Deputy Sheriff to hold the position in the more than 300-year history of the office.

Born and raised in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood by Puerto Rican parents, Ramos’ goals are to be able to provide service for the community of Philadelphia and to let residents know that “we are an office for the people.”

Before even dreaming of working for the Sheriff’s Office, Ramos had worked as a legal secretary for several years.  Her professional path became uncertain when the lawyer’s office shut down and transferred to another city.

It was her aunt who suggested she should work for the city. “She put in an application for me to become a correctional officer. I thought it was the craziest idea. I kept thinking of ‘Oz,’ the TV show, and that I couldn’t be a correctional officer,” Ramos said. “But I needed a job.”

After passing the civil service test and orientation, Ramos started working at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility (CFCF), a maximum-security men’s institution on State Road in Philadelphia, a position rarely considered by women, let alone Latina women.

“I was responsible for the welfare of the inmates. In the beginning it was very challenging for me,” Ramos said. “They want to test you,  trying you to see how far they can go and speak to you, not in a professional matter. The first three or four months I had to set the standard. They would try to address me as ‘mami’ but once you set the tone they understand that you are not playing around.”

After a few years as a correctional officer came the opportunity to apply at the Sheriff’s Office during a recruitment effort. Ramos had a job interview, as she puts it, the longest in her life.

She was assigned to the civil unit, a division of the Sheriff's Office that enforces a variety of court orders including writs of execution; writs of possession; service of process; tax liens; complaints; summons and subpoenas; protection from abuse orders; and court orders on behalf of other sheriff's offices.

“We go out and serve people with paperwork when their civil action is being taken against them. We explain to them the process because a lot of times people don’t understand what a civil process is,” Ramos said. “For the most part, in the experience I’ve gained, people’s reaction are not very positive at the beginning, but as we explain how they can resolve the issue, I was so surprised to see the reaction of people saying ‘thank you so much.’ They go from being so angry to being very grateful.”

As a single mother of three, she said her family is a priority. “My children are my life. They are who I get up and strive for. I want them to know that they can be better than me and that they have to be better than me. It is supposed to get better every generation,” Ramos said.

Ramos said she encourages her kids daily. “I tell them ‘you can only be the change you want to see in the world if you educate yourself. Education is power.’”

“My twin girls are like ‘wow, Mom, this is history.’ To be the first Latina woman is breaking boundaries here in our office,” Ramos said. “I am proud to be the first and I know I won’t be the last. And that is very important to me, to open the doors for others to follow.”