Ex-Mounted F.W. Policewoman Amye Ford & King, Her Horse

Above: Amye Ford with King, 1998 [PHOTO: COURTESY]; Amye Ford, retired now, with Queen Lacey [PHOTO: QUESTNCREATE]

Written by Ngozi Rogers

Even though Amye Ford has been retired from the Fort Wayne police force for 17 years, she gets recognized all the time.  During this interview a woman approached her saying, "you taught D.A.R.E. (drug abuse resistance program) at Bunche [Elementary School]" and that although she had gotten arrested once she "never got into any trouble after that."  Both women laughed.  But this is just one example of how officer Ford has touched people and changed lives.  And she's proud of that. 

You would never know Ford's law enforcement journey began when she was 15 and sent to a halfway house in Fort Wayne.  Her mother died at 33 when Ford was only six and her sister was almost three.  Her father raised them and remarried four years later.  "I was doing all kinds of stuff,” Ford said.  "I had a lot of anger."  When the woman who ran the halfway house didn't allow Ford to return home to Cleveland after her mandatory year, she was angry but said, "It was truly a blessing.  Mrs. Lee was afraid I would end up in the penitentiary and she was probably right."  Ford remained at the house until the end of high school.  She learned to ride horses because two weekend parents would take her to a farm on their weekends off.

Years later at the police academy, when asked why she wanted to join the force, "I told them I've been on the wrong side of the law, I want to know what the right side feels like," Ford recalled, smiling.  During her 20+ year career, she rode a bike, walked the beat, taught D.A.R.E., worked in the police academy and the detective bureau. 

"I got trained in sex crimes, was a Breathalyzer operator, I did radar," she added. "I had the opportunity to be trained by the FBI and secret service. I was a dignitary officer."  All this happened in the 17 years before she was able to get into the mounted patrol and become the first and only African-American to do it. 

In 1998, Officer Ford began mounted patrol with her 15 foot, three-inch partner King. "He was awesome with kids, he had a good personality and loved to chase people down," she said.  "There were times he really protected me and saved my life and times where he threw me because I wouldn't listen to what he had to say."

Once in Foster Park, they put out an armed robbery, and she and King arrived in three minutes. "I asked for dispatch and arrival time," Ford said.  "I wanted the guys to know we do work and look how quick I got there."  People were always amazed that when she got off King, he followed her. "That was his job," she says, "he ran interference. When I moved…he moved, and if he needed to get in between me and somebody else he would do that." 

The duo patrolled Southeast Fort Wayne: Southgate, the old Southtown Mall, Foster, Memorial and McMillen parks and the neighborhoods.  "Everyone would come out," Ford said, "they would talk to me and leave apples and carrots for him."

In her programs with children, Ford found a lot of natural riders. "We as African-Americans were the groomers and trainers of horses so the slave masters could ride," Ford said, "it’s natural, it’s in our blood."  Riding builds confidence, teaches teamwork, problem solving and unconditional love.  "A boy who lost his father got on my horse and got him to trot," remembered Ford, "and you could see the glow on his face for being able to do it."  One main lesson she taught children in two and a half years of mounted patrol before they ended the program."  But what a difference that time made in our community.  

What's next?  "I loved my career and at age 65 I'm moving on to my next journey - owning my own place with my horse Queen Lacey and [teaching] therapeutic riding," said Ford. We wish her all the best.