The former detective is in his third week as manager of performance and talent at the Otago Cricket Association.
It is a wordy job title but essentially the 44-year-old is responsible for high performance.
He brings a tremendous passion to the role. Forde played 10 first-class games and 20 one-dayers for the province from 1998 to 2001.
The right-arm offspinner claimed four first-class wickets but had more success in the one-day format, picking up 20 wickets at an average of 31.55.
He has also been a selector and last summer was the Volts assistant coach.
The opportunity to take more of a leadership role lured him away from the police.
"I thought that I would always be there but this is an amazing opportunity,'' Forde said.
"I can take the skills that I've acquired and take them into this role.
"People in the police don't really realise that the skills you learn you can use out in the real world, as we call it.''
Forde and wife, Rachel, have three sons - Cameron (13), Caleb (10) and Mac (8). His appointment is one of raft of changes which have taken place during the off-season.
The Volts will have a new management team this season, Rob Walter taking over as head coach, and a new assistant is expected to be appointed soon. Warren Lees will remain as Sparks coach.
Walter is keen to focus on improving Otago's first-class results. It has been 28 years since the province won the first-class title and it is Forde's role to provide the team with the support it needs to help right that wrong.
The goal is to develop more players with capable of going on to represent the province and ideally even the country.
He is working on a strategic plan to deliver on that goal and it will form the basis of his work during the next five years.
"My role is about helping them [Walter and Lees] with succession planning. They might be here three of four years - obviously, we want them here longer - but once we build a really strong culture and group, we can keep that going, so when we have a new coach, we don't have to start again. That is a really important part of this role.''
One of the weaknesses which has been identified is a lack of leadership depth in the Volts. What was evident last season was whenever Nathan McCullum was missing, the team lacked some direction.
Forde did not want to comment on the dynamics of last year's team but agreed the province had some work ahead.
"There are some really good young fellows coming through but we need to find a way to upskill their leadership. But there are some great men in that group who will do that.
"I think we have a really good base of batting and bowling stocks. We might lack a little bit of experience in the bowling attack but it is a very good attack in white ball and red ball cricket.
"Our spin-bowling stocks, you could argue, [are thin]. But we've given Rhys Phillips an opportunity to develop this year and he will benefit hugely from being around Mark Craig.''
Wicketkeeping is another area where there is not much depth. There is only one place for a keeper in a team, and, with Derek de Boorder having held that spot since 2007, there has not been many opportunities to develop a back-up.
"That is an area we've looked at. We have a couple of young keepers who have skills.''
The options include Otago A keeper Josh Preston and Otago Boys' High School wicketkeeper Max Chu.
"They have genuine skills, so it is up to us to get them involved in our environment.''
