Jose was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. His father died when he was only a baby, and facing financial difficulties and hardship, his mother decided to move with him and his brother to America in search of a better life. Eventually, they settled in Boston, where his mom became involved in the growing Latinx community. 

Growing up, Jose attended Boston Public Schools. After graduating high school, he went to Northeastern University for several years before leaving to work for his family. He eventually completed his education in 2003, receiving a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from Curry College. 

As a teenager, Jose, like many in his community, was distrustful of law enforcement and had several negative interactions with officers in his neighborhood. However, through the guidance and mentorship of his baseball and boxing coach, two BPD officers themselves who were very important in his early life, he began to understand that he too could make a difference in the lives of other kids like him by working to fix the institution from the inside. 

In 1992 Jose took the Boston Police Exam and entered the Academy two years later, the only Latino in his class. Right from the start, he understood that he was representing not only himself but his entire community and was determined to do everything he could to work on their behalf.  

As an officer, Jose worked diligently to keep our communities safe, give back, and ensure he was doing all he could to help those in need. In 1996 he partnered with the Boston Red Sox Foundation to run their youth baseball and softball programs, working to create safe places for Boston youths to play while building closer relations with law enforcement. He further worked to secure tens of thousands of dollars in grants to invest in community organizations in need of funding, specifically in Dorchester, Hyde Park, and Mattapan. In addition, Jose spearheaded a program recruiting high school students to collect food and other necessities for seniors, families in need, and social services centers.  

Independent of his career in law enforcement, Jose has always been actively involved in helping the community. Along with Kenny Gee and Lee Baron, he founded South End Baseball in 1986 to give an opportunity to kids in a struggling community. While working as the director of the Blackstone Community Center, he also organized and ran the largest summer camp in Boston for at-risk and underprivileged youth. 

Jose married his wife Sandra in 1982, and together they have four children and seven grandchildren. They moved to Readville in 1997 and still reside there today.