‘A vibrant woman’

Ford sets standard for participating at her age in Citizen Police Academy

By St. Clair Murraine
Outlook staff writer

For some people to accomplish at least half of what Clinita Ford has, especially in her younger years, would take a lifetime.

Consider she has received many more awards and honors than can be counted on the fingers of both hands and toes. The lengthy list includes being named as one of the top One Hundred Outstanding Black Women Leaders-Black Issues in Higher Education, being honored as a distinguished alumni of Kansas State University, and being an inductee in the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame as well the Hall of Fame at Lincoln University, which also recognized her with an honorary doctorate degree.

She spent 50 years working at FAMU and was once named the university’s Teacher of the Year. 

Those who know her used the word determined before her name to describe her move up every rung of life’s ladder. Take for instance the time that she went to Kansas State University in the 1950’s to earn a doctorate degree in nutrition and biochemistry. Achieving that required a move from her home in Tallahassee. 

The move was financed by the state government at a time when segregation made it impossible for her to attend Florida State University. During the three-year program, she’d return home for a brief time during the summers.

All the time her husband, former Tallahassee mayor James Ford, stayed at home. Meanwhile, her parents helped to raise their 2-year-old son, James Jr., in Oklahoma, where she was born. The Fords, who were married for 66 years before the former mayor’s death in 2017, eventually had two other girl children.

Even as she approaches age 93 in the fall, Ford isn’t slowing down.  Recently she was among a group of individuals who graduated from the Tallahassee Police Department’s Citizens Academy.

Ford is believed to be the oldest person to participate in the academy classes.

“My oldness is only in years; not in ability,” she said. “Mentally, I do everything I’ve ever done. Every morning I get up, I still know what day of the week it is; so I’m grateful to the Lord for that.”

The weeks at the academy gave her insight into aspects of TPD that she wasn’t aware of.

“I came away with some knowledge,” she said. “I know more about how they do arrests. They just can’t stop you because they want to stop you. There’s got to be some reason for stopping you.”

If something else comes up that sparks her interest, she will get involved. No need sitting around because she is retired and getting up in age, she said.

“My philosophy of life is you should never stop learning,” said Ford, who has written three books. “You never get too old to learn. Even though I’m looking at 93, I still enjoy learning.”

The academy is one of the many ways that TPD engages the community. It has a Citizens Advisory Council and a Citizen Review Board, a cadet program and an academy for young people. Ford also is a member of the Citizens Advisory Council.

The academy classes were held once weekly over nine weeks in the evenings and participants were given plenty of information. 

 They got demonstrations in police use of force, traffic issues and patrol operations and other TPD functions, as well as a lesson on the use of a K-9 and special operations. The class also took a trip to TPD’s Public Safety Institute where they learned about criminal investigations and forensics.

Ford’s consistency in showing up for every class made an impression on her younger classmates, said TPD Chief Lawrence Revell. On nights when she didn’t have a driver of her own, she’d call on TPD to pick her up, said Revell, who called Ford “a vibrant woman with so much knowledge.” 

“She wanted to be a part of everything that we were doing,” said Revell. “She contributed to every single class that we had. That commitment to be here and to go through the things; the ride-along, the tag-demonstration all of those things; she was right there in the middle of it.”

Ford was there every night despite having to sometimes rely on a wheelchair for her mobility. She also gets around with the use of a cane. A fall three years ago that broke her shoulder forced her reliance on a prop, she said.

Revell praised her resilience.

“She was an inspiration to everybody,” he said. “I know she was an inspiration to me to see her determination to be there.”

Ironically, when her husband was the first Black mayor in Tallahassee and oversaw TPD during a decade that started in 1972, she didn’t consider law enforcement. However, she took a lead role along with Linda Dilworth to organize a group they called the Form to help with gangs that were becoming a public safety threat.

The gangs from the north and south side of the city met every Friday night near the Frenchtown area. Ford got the gang leaders together over lunch, eventually leading to the groups’ demise.

Now that she is retired with not much to do, she said deciding to participate in the TPD Citizens Academy was an easy choice. She advocated for TPD and suggested that anyone should attend the academy. 

“Not just the citizens,” she said. “I think the city commission and the county commission should all take the class. They would learn so much and be less opinionated and emotional and deal more with facts.”