In 2014, was finishing his sixth year as an officer with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
He had become well known within the department, winning accolades like the Meritorious Service Citation and Citizen鈥檚 Service Award for his work to build trust between officers and local communities. He had organized a series of police-run events, such as movie nights and school supply drives, to help foster positive ties with residents.
And his supervisor had recently transferred him to a specialized unit that served Housing Authority communities in north St. Louis City, with the hope that his approach could benefit one of the most troubled areas for police-community relations.
But in July of that year, when video of Eric Garner鈥檚 death became national news, Tyus was deeply disturbed. Garner died after New York City police placed him in a chokehold, a violation of the NYPD鈥檚 use-of-force policy. To Tyus, it was a blatant abuse of police authority.
Garner鈥檚 death added to a pattern of unarmed African-American men dying at the hands of police. A month later, in August 2014, the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, centered the national conversation on the St. Louis region.
Although Tyus recognizes viscerally the dangers and uncertainties of police work, he became focused on addressing the factors that he sees contributing to unnecessary police violence, such as officers鈥� fight-or-flight response, implicit bias against African-American suspects, and ineffective investigations of officers who have used deadly force.
鈥淎s a police officer, you may be dealing with real criminals who are trying to take your life, and you need to understand that,鈥� he said, explaining that police do, at times, need to use lethal force. 鈥淏ut mistakes don鈥檛 have to happen at the rate that they鈥檙e happening.鈥�
In his off-hours, Tyus began studying police use of force, drawing insights from publications on psychology, sociology, criminal justice and military science.
As his interest progressed, he began to collaborate with Sean Joe, the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development. Joe leads the , a project of the Center for Social Development at the Brown School.
Tyus eventually became a volunteer member of the Race and Opportunity Lab鈥檚 research team, contributing to studies about police-related policies, while still working full time. When his night shifts were peaceful, he鈥檇 study research project spreadsheets from his squad car, analyzing the data.
This path ultimately led him to leave the police force and enroll at the Brown School, where he is a first-year MSW 黑料社 specializing in policy. In addition to his coursework, Tyus now works as a graduate research assistant with the Race and Opportunity Lab.
Joe鈥檚 mentorship encouraged Tyus to pursue social work education. 鈥淎s a profession,鈥� Joe said, 鈥渨e have a responsibility to be involved in justice.鈥�
In his work with the Race and Opportunity Lab, Tyus is currently conducting a systematic review of policy recommendations for investigating police-involved shootings or allegations of excessive use of force. How can such investigations be structured to best ensure fair decisions? When appropriate, how can investigations result in genuine consequences? The end product will be a policy brief tailored to the St. Louis metro area.
The team鈥檚 process, Joe said, involves 鈥渓ooking at all existing policy recommendations, categorizing them, and trying to suggest what approach might be the most amenable to support the healthy development of black males in our region. That鈥檚 our lens.鈥�
Joe emphasizes the search for healing policies: policy solutions that support community healing by ensuring that investigations of officer conduct are conducted with 鈥渁 sense of fairness, openness, and the idea that the truth will be unearthed, regardless of what it says. That鈥檚 emotional healing, for those directly involved and those observing, the broader public.鈥�
The work took on particular resonance this fall, following the announcement of the Stockley verdict, in which a St. Louis police officer was acquitted of first-degree murder charges in the death of a young black man. Protests and demonstrations followed, with activists united around the refrain: 鈥楽top killing us.鈥�
鈥淚 was like, 鈥業 cannot believe we are here again,鈥欌�� Tyus said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing this again because we haven鈥檛 fixed the problem.鈥�
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One of Tyus鈥檚 primary aims is to integrate a more holistic, preventative approach into officer training programs.
He wants officers to understand, for example, the ways their brains are primed to react in threatening situations, and to have the training to respond more appropriately. He wants officers to know about the ways that triggers in their environment, as well as implicit bias, can send them into a hyper-vigilance beyond what a situation warrants.
His hope is that requiring such proactive training 鈥� and introducing better systems to track excessive use-of-force incidents 鈥� can dramatically reduce the number of mistakes.
As in his research with the Race and Opportunity Lab, Tyus also sees promising ways that local laws and police departmental policies can change the incentives and consequences of using force.
鈥淚n the current system, the incentive for killing an unarmed man generally is: you lose your current police job, you get another job, and you鈥檙e probably going to get a better paying job,鈥� Tyus said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a pattern. So the incentives need to be changed, what鈥檚 rewarded for good policing versus what鈥檚 shunned.鈥�
Tyus came to the Brown School with the intention of opening a police institute. With Joe鈥檚 encouragement, he is also considering pursuing a PhD. As his plans take shape, Tyus is glad to be at the Brown School, laying the foundation for the work ahead.
鈥淚 got here, and it feels like the world opened up. Now I鈥檓 learning about game theory and economic development and how to spot trends,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is a place where I get to use my mind, to listen to the hurt and pain of other people throughout the nation, and try to figure out how to help them all.鈥�