Sam A. Cabral

Sam A. Cabral was re-elected as the International President of I.U.P.A. in August of 2016.

President Cabral began his law enforcement career with the Defiance, Ohio Police Department in 1965 and he retired in 1991 as a Detective Sergeant in charge of the Defiance Detective’s Bureau.

In 1988, Sam was elected as the International Vice President of I.U.P.A. In 1990, he was elected as the International Secretary-Treasurer. He has served as the International President of I.U.P.A. since 1995.

As the International President, Cabral leads the only union that exclusively represents rank and file law enforcement officers, EMS workers, and corrections officers in the United States, Canada, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico .

Sam’s law enforcement and labor background began when his peers elected him as the Chief Union Steward at Campbell Soup for four years before joining the police force. After joining the force, he affiliated the Defiance Police Officers with I.U.P.A. and became President of Local 166 in 1978.

His educational background includes attending Defiance College, University of Toledo where he earned his Criminal Justice Degree. He has studied at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies in Washington, D.C. and is a 1978 graduate of the 113th Session of the National FBI Academy.

President Cabral currently serves on the Executive Board of the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund Association, American Income Life’s Executive Board as well as various federal law enforcement task forces.

President Cabral has testified before the United States Congress promoting legislation designed to improve both law enforcement policy and the conditions under which police officers work. He has guided legislation that has directly, or indirectly, affected law enforcement officials, such as being appointed in 1994 to the Congressional Commission on Crime Control, responsible for developing the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill.

In addition, Sam ensures that I.U.P.A. is the front-runner in being the members’ advocate on local, state and federal issues that are important to law enforcement. Many issues that he has fought hard on include an increase in the number of officers available to police departments, the rights of police officers, age discrimination, as well as overtime pay cuts.