Yavapai Community College has appointed alumnus Tyran Payne as the institution’s new chief of police.
Payne is succeeding former police chief Jerald Monahan, who decided to retire after a 42-year career in law enforcement.
Payne is a 10-year U.S. Army veteran and has served the Yavapai College Police Department for six years. He previously worked for the Prescott Valley and Chino Valley police departments, bringing a total of 30 years of law enforcement experience to his new role.
A graduate of YC, as well as Northern Arizona Regional Police Academy, which is held at the college, Payne is excited to be serving a community he feels deeply connected to.
“This is my home, and I have a vested interest in providing a safe living and learning environment for our students, staff, faculty and visitors,” he said.
Payne said policing in higher education is enjoyable to him because of the opportunity to connect with the student community.
“Policing in higher education is extremely community based. We have the opportunity to interact with our partners and the people we serve. This allows us to build meaningful relationships,” he said. “It is nice to be a valuable piece of student success.”
The Yavapai College Campus Safety Department serves all six YC campuses. While the Verde Valley campuses are generally very safe learning environments, they still work closely with the Clarkdale and Sedona campuses to train officers and prepare them to respond to other campuses in case they need backup for a larger-scale incident.
Payne has worked with the YC Respect Campaign and the President’s Equity Task Force to help promote the safe, inclusive environment the college desires. This work translates into his goals for YCPD, including his passion for mental health advocacy.
Being the first black police chief in Yavapai County, as well as a mental health first aid educator and a founding board member of the Yavapai County Justice and Mental Health Coalition, Payne hopes to be a proponent for problem-solving and serving these communities.
He also knows firsthand how meaningful it can be to community members of color to have an advocate in law enforcement.
“I can tell you on multiple occasions I have been contacted by other African-Americans either visiting or recently moved to the Quad City area, and I have been thanked for working in this community,” Payne said. “Seeing someone that looks like you do wearing a police uniform does create a sense of comfort. I know this to be true.”
During his time in office, Payne hopes to teach his officers how to become trainers on methods for proper violent critical incident response as well as mental health first aid and victim advocacy. He then hopes to provide training in these areas to other local law enforcement agencies for little to no cost and benefit other communities’ preparedness for these types of situations through better training and education.
Payne also hopes to collaborate with the YC Criminal Justice Program under Monahan and the Northern Arizona Regional Training Academy, a YC-hosted police academy, to even further influence change in the justice system.
“We have a rare opportunity here. We can directly affect locally our new police officers who are going out there and hitting the street,” he said in a statement. “We’re going to do big things, starting locally, maybe even nationally, as we move forward.”
Payne is a father of five and enjoys biking and hiking. He is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Northern Arizona University.
