Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Capt. Douglas Ford takes over Clovis Police Department

With 18 years experience in the community, Clovis Police Capt. Douglas Ford will be taking over the Clovis Police Department as the search for a permanent police chief begins.

Clovis Police Chief Steve Sanders retires today, and Capt. Ford will take over beginning Saturday as interim chief.

Ford has a bachelor’s degree in occupational education in law enforcement and a master’s degree in management with a concentration in criminal justice from Colorado Technical University.

In 2011 Ford graduated from the Institute of Law Enforcement Administrations 47th Management College.

Why did you choose a career in law enforcement?

It was my childhood dream, I wanted to be in public safety. I wanted to help people and I went into it (public safety) and fulfilled it (his dream).

What do you like about working in the Clovis community?

I was born and raised in this community. I did serve in the Marines and was gone from the community and I served a little bit of time at another agency, but this is where my family was from and I wanted to come back and serve the community that raised me and that I had been raised in. My mom and dad had been here a very long time and my siblings and I were all born and raised here, so I wanted to come back here and serve the community that I had come up in.

What are you looking forward to during your time as interim police chief?

I’m looking forward to just keeping us moving forward. In the interim aspect of being chief, you’re just keeping everything moving forward, keeping everything stable. I’m looking forward to just keeping the team in a stable environment and moving us in a forward direction. We’re going to continue to take care of our community, continue take care of our citizens, and take care of the people that come into our community. We’ll just keep doing what we do and do it to the best of our ability.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work? How do you spend your free time?

When I’m not working I spend time with my family. My wife and I enjoy doing things together along with our son. We enjoy off-roading. We also enjoy fishing and the shooting sports. That’s kind of my background.

What are some of your favorite accomplishments or memories from the past 18 years with the Clovis Police Department?

You know, we’ve had a lot of good accomplishments here. I’ve got 18 years here and almost two and a half with Ruidoso before I came here. So I’ve got actually 21 plus years in this business.

I think accomplishments-wise it’s not just me, it’s this group in general. This department, we’ve accomplished a lot and we continue to move forward.

When it comes to personal accomplishments, one of my best experiences was the almost seven years I spent as a K-9 officer working in the K-9 division. It’s probably one of the highlights of my career.

I’ve always been an animal person and I was always intrigued by what the K-9s could do. I was always impressed. I can tell you that from the day I started to the day I ended doing that, the dog never ceased to amaze me.

We train them, we train with them, but they always will amaze you in what they can do when they’re working. Some people think the dogs are not as intelligent as people say they are, but they are very intelligent. I was always impressed by what the dog could do to help us out and the things he could do when we needed to utilize him in what we do.

— Compiled by Staff Writer Joshua Lucero