Fort Lee Native, Veteran Captain Honored by Police Chief

The following was submitted to Patch for publication by the :

Since taking over the duties of Fort Lee Police Chief in 2004, Chief Thomas O. Ripoli has created a Chief’s Award, which honors Fort Lee’s finest for their actions in the line of duty. Each year, one administrative award is issued to a member of the department. This year, Captain Timothy Ford, a 31-year veteran of the Fort Lee Police Department, is the recipient of this award for the month of May.

Captain Timothy Ford was born and raised in Fort Lee. He attended Madonna Grammar School and Bergen Catholic High School. He then attended William Paterson University where he received a Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice.

Ford joined the Fort Lee Police on September 1, 1980. He served in the patrol division for a number of years. During this time, Ford was trained to teach the DARE program. He taught the DARE program for six years, teaching on the Elementary school, Middle school, and High School levels. In 1994, he was promoted to Sergeant where he served as tour commander. While a Sergeant, he was assigned to the Detective bureau’s General investigation and Juvenile units.

In 2000, he was promoted to Lieutenant and in 2006 to Captain where he now supervises the patrol division. His day-to-day duties include the daily operations of the patrol division, administering grants, policy review, and manpower scheduling. Ford has received awards for valor and life saving while serving as a police officer.

Captain Ford comes from a family of Police Officers. His father, the late Captain Martin Ford retired from the Fort Lee Police Dept. in 1985 with over 32 years of service to the Borough. His brother, retired Sergeant John Ford retired last year with 25 years of service. Ford lives in Leonia with his wife and 5 children.