‘I Knew This Was The Career For Me’

PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Police Officer Jason Rivera —who was only 22 years old when he was shot to death on Jan. 21—dreamed of being a cop so he could serve as a bridge between the NYPD and the community “in this chaotic city.” In a letter Rivera wrote to his commander as a probationary officer in 2020, he talked about wanting to make a difference, especially when he saw the efforts police were making to improve relations with the community.

“This was when I realized that I wanted to be part of the men in blue — better the relationship between the community and the police,” he wrote.

Rivera, who grew up in Inwood, was the first member of his family to join the NYPD. ​​“When I applied to become a police officer, I knew this was the career for me,” he wrote.

The officer’s generous nature was on display even before he joined the police force in 2020. A 2017 graduate of Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School, he spoke to younger students in a video message, urging them to work hard and warning them they would not be able to move forward in life if they didn’t make an effort.

“Ya gotta put in the work. Ya gotta put in 100% effort. If it takes some time after school, so be it, because you gotta do it. If you don’t do it, you’re not gonna make it nowhere in life,” he said.

Officials at the high school shared the video on Instagram.

Rivera was a newlywed — he and his bride, Dominique, were married in October. In a heartbreaking tribute she wrote to him on Instagram, she called him “my beautiful angel,” and said she had hoped to grow old with him. “But now your soul will spend the rest of my days without me, throughout me, right beside me,” she wrote.

“I love you till the end of time,” she ended her tribute.