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26 years later, officer reunites with man who inspired him to become a cop

1,058 views · Published 1 November 2018 · 1:52 · Indexed 12 November 2026

Channel: 9NEWS · 2018 · News & Politics

Nearly 30 years ago, a tall, gregarious Lakewood police officer created a bond he wouldn’t fully understand until now.

All of those years ago, Officer Tom Richey led a D.A.R.E. program at Belmar Elementary in Lakewood. Sitting in his class was a young David Ford who went on to be a police officer himself in Littleton.

Ford says Richey was the closest thing to a father figure he ever had. His mom raised him by herself. So, he looked up to Ford, admiring the shiny badge and shoes. He always wanted to thank him for giving him the passion to pursue law enforcement. He just never had a way to get a hold of him.

9NEWS recently ran a story about Ford receiving a community award. In the story, he credited Richey and put a call out to connect them. Sure enough, a viewer did just that. Richey now lives in Michigan but visits family in Colorado regularly.

The two sat down with Richey's old cop friend and daughter. They talked shop, about the many changes and the remaining similarities. Then Ford starts explaining the many hats he wears at the police department and the Shop with a Cop program he started. That's the program that earned him an award.

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26 years later, officer reunites with man who inspired him to become a cop

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