BY JASON COHEN
As a teen Keiyon Ramsey
was a rapper and was friends
with the late Big L. In fact, he
even once saw Biggie Smalls at
Rucker Park.
Did Ramsey become a musician?
No. Today he is the Commanding
Offi cer at the 43rd
Ramsey, 44, was born and
raised in Castle Hill and now
has the privilege to give back
to the place that he once called
home.
“I’m living my dream being
able to work in the community,”
he told the Bronx Times.
While his mom is a retired
teacher and in his life, it was
his grandparents, Mildred and
Arthur Ramsey who primarily
raised him. Ramsey was
close with Mildred and credits
her for keeping him and his
siblings Cameron and Shakira
out of trouble.
“She ran a strict household,”
he recalled. “She always
made me feel like I was smart.
She would always tell me I’m
going to be a lawyer.”
According to Ramsey, his
dream was to always be a rapper.
He would write lyrics,
freestyle and even recorded a
couple albums.
Ramsey never met his dad
and as he got older realized
how that impacted him.
“I would make things up in
my head why it was good to not
have a father,” he recalled. “It
affected me greatly not having
a father.”
Ramsey’s path to joining
law enforcement was not the
typical one. He grew up around
a lot of violence.
At 10-years-old he saw a
friend kill another friend over
a Nintendo, at 12 saw another
dead body and a girl in the
neighborhood was molested
and thrown down a trash compactor.
He even had friends
give him guns to hold from
time to time.
“I’ve been around a lot of
death in the community,” he
said. “It was just a part of life.”
According to the captain, he
was raised not to call the cops.
During his time as a musician
he was caught spray painting
his logo near the 45th Precinct.
That changed him and
set him on the right path.
“Not everyone who gets arrested
is the worst person in
the world,” he explained.
Around 22 he began studying
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Precinct.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 16 EB. 26-MAR. 4, 2021 BTR
at Lehman College at night
and was driving the Access a
Ride during the day. One day
he came out and saw he got a
ticket and instead of getting
angry, asked the traffi c agent
about how he could get a job.
That set the wheels in motion
for his future as a cop. He
was giving a car a ticket when
a cop passed by and he waived
to the police offi cer.
Instead of returning the polite
gesture, the cop gave him
the middle fi nger. This infuriated
Ramsey, but also made
him want to join law enforcement.
So, he enrolled in the police
academy at 27, which was much
older than the typical recruit.
But his age did not bother him.
“I feel like I had a whole life
before I came on this job,” he
stated.
He was assigned to the 40th
Precinct in the south Bronx,
then went to the 42nd, where he
made sergeant, then to housing
and then gang sergeant for all
of school safety for the city.
While he has only been at
the 43rd for fi ve months, he is
on cloud nine. Both of Ramsey’s
grandparents passed
away before he became a cop,
Commanding Offi cer: Deputy Inspector Keiyon S. Ramsey
Courtesy of NYPD
but he knows they would be
proud.
Ramsey noted that some
friends had no idea he was a
police offi cer.
“I’m playing with house
money now,” he remarked.
“My mom is through the roof
about it.”
The commander explained
to the Bronx Times that being
a police offi cer is not easy. Every
day is a challenge and the
goal is to keep the community
safe and come home to his family.
He feels seeing the violence
as a youth helped prepare him
for being in law enforcement.
“It’s who I am. I wouldn’t
change anything in my life,”
he said.
From rapper to captain
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