In the late 1980s, Tyrone White was a young cop assigned as a resource officer at Norland High. Stern and physically imposing, the former college football player nevertheless became a popular figure, connecting with students over sports.
At the school’s police explorers program, White pushed students to consider jobs in law enforcement — and many of them did.
“Tyrone was an influential mentor for us,” said Miami-Dade Lt. Steve Czyzewski, a Norland High graduate who later wound up working under White on the streets of what is now Miami Gardens. “I can name five, maybe even 10, students in high school that all became police officers.”
Over the decades, as White worked his way through the ranks, he continued that mentoring. One of Miami-Dade’s most senior and decorated Black officers, he relentlessly pushed younger cops to seek promotions, even as he hit a ceiling in his own career.
“For a lot of the minorities, we looked up to him,” said Miami-Dade Lt. Chuck Johnson, of the Northside District. ”There’s not many of us.”
White, most recently a captain with Miami-Dade’s Special Victims Bureau, died Sunday afternoon in a two-car crash in Cooper City. He was 59, and his death stunned current and retired officers with the county’s largest police department.
His wife, Lisa White, was driving a 2014 Volkswagen Passat, with her husband in the passenger seat. The car was making a left turn onto Southwest 118th Avenue, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, when it was struck by a white Suburu traveling east.
The Passat hit a curb and flipped over. Lisa White suffered “life-threatening” injuries, deputies said, and remains in critical condition at Memorial Regional Hospital.
The white Suburu caught on fire after hitting a traffic-control box. The driver, Daniel Chamberlin, 32, had minor injuries, police said.
Famous father
White’s death became national news because of his son: James White is a key running back for the New England Patriots, and was slated to play on Sunday night.
But Tyrone White had his own legacy in the law enforcement and success on the football field as well. White was a football player for Hialeah-Miami Lakes High football team that went to the state semifinals in 1978. He later played at Florida A&M, before joining the police department in 1983. Within the department, White was well-known for his athletic prowess and love of football.
In January 1987, he starred in the Pig Bowl, an annual charity football game between Miami-Dade and the city of Miami police departments. He ran back an 80-yard kickoff for a touchdown to beat the city.
“If Tyrone White were a bandit, the city of Miami Police Department might never catch him,” the Miami Herald wrote.
White’s love of athletics was a connection point between him and students at Norland High, where he was a schools resources officer in the late 1980s. “He was very firm and stern — but a lot of the kids took to him because you could see, behind all of that, he was a great man, a good-hearted gentle giant,” Czyzewski said.
For years, White ran a police flag football team, often bringing his sons, Tyrone Jr., and James, to practices when they were young. Even as he aged, he competed in police charity “Olympic” sporting events across Florida.
“There wasn’t a sport he couldn’t play,” said Miami-Dade Capt. Elise Dillard, of the Northwest District. “He had a huge impact on basketball in the 40-and-over league for the Olympics.”
Football woes
His involvement in the charity football team wound up costing him his rank.
White was fired in 2013 after the department’s internal affairs unit said he inappropriately used his his computer during work hours to coordinate activities for the…
Read More: ‘An influential mentor.’ Miami-Dade police mourns Capt. Tyrone White, killed in