Chief Jarrett Ford has worked 20 years for the Alton Police Department. He grew up in Alton and graduated from Alton High School in 2000. He graduated from McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois, in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Finance. He also obtained an associate’s degree in law enforcement from Lewis & Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois.

Chief Ford was hired by the Alton Police Department at 22 years of age. He spent three years as a patrol officer and then received the opportunity to work in the Criminal Investigations Division as a Detective working felony cases. After working five years as a Detective, he was promoted to Sergeant where he briefly returned to the Patrol Division as a supervisor before returning back to detectives as the Detective Sergeant supervisor. In 2017, he was again promoted to Lieutenant and remained in detectives as the Chief of Detectives. In 2018, he became the Support Services Commander, which oversees jail operations, training, traffic, and the records division. In 2020, he was appointed as the Deputy Chief of Police before appointed Chief in November 2022.