25 in '25: In ways big and small, Jason Malone wants to bring fairness to the VCU campus

There are a number of ways to tie a tie, but this is VCU Police Officer Jason Malone’s method: place the tie around your neck, pull the fat end to the lowest point that you would like it to go, wrap the short end around twice, wrap the fat end over and pull it back through. Finally, stick it through the loop and adjust the tightness.  

It’s a mundane skill that Malone learned when he was 12 years old, and it’s certainly not a skill that Malone thought would make him go viral. 

Then, during VCU’s graduation in May, a student came up to VCU Police Officer Shola Kayode on the corner of N. Harrison Street and W. Broad Street and asked him for help tying his tie. Kayode told him he wasn’t confident in his abilities and turned to Malone. “Hey, Big Daddy J, can you help this young man out?” he asked. 

“I got you,” Malone said to the student. 

Malone walked the student through each step of the process. The student thanked him, saying he had asked his friends to help him, but they also didn’t know how. 

Malone said working as a police officer on an urban campus keeps him busy, so he didn’t give his tie tying interaction another thought. 

That is, until a couple weeks later, when a VCU Police social media staff member told him that there might be a photo of him, which Kayode had taken, tying the student’s tie, online. 

“I forgot about it,” Malone said. “At first I was like, ‘What are you talking about it?’” 

Malone had made the news in 2017 for mediating a tense standoff between VCU students and a man on campus holding a racist sign. He didn’t expect the tie tying to rise to that level, but it did. 

The VCU Police Department Facebook post has almost 2,000 likes and more than 60 comments. While some of the comments focus on the kindness of Malone’s act, many didn’t see this as a one-off. Instead, they described how the gesture reflected Malone’s character. 

“Officer Malone is the BEST! His VCU family already knows this about him…always willing to help,” one person wrote.

“Of course he did! Officer Malone is an amazing officer and just a really (nice) guy,” another wrote. 

Kayode said it's satisfying to see Malone recognized. One time, he said that a woman left her tickets at home for a show at the Altria Theater and began to cry. Malone, working at the event, saw this and bought her a $100 ticket. 

“As a cop, we do everything for people, but not to that extent,” Kayode said. 

Malone said he has long sought to be an arbiter of fairness. He is 6-foot-3 and broad. It’s a build that he has had going back to his childhood in Patchogue, NY on Long Island. “I never looked my age. I was always a big guy,” he said.

His size allowed him to play the role of peacemaker. One time, he saw nine boys beating up one boy. Malone, a 7th grader at the time, stepped in to break it up. “Do you really think this is fair?” he asked. The boys told him to stay out of it, but he ignored them. The school suspended Malone three days for his role in the fight, but he said he didn’t regret his actions.

Malone was not always on the path to a career in law enforcement. His father died when Malone was nine years old, which led him down a “dark path” in his pre-teen years, he said. A family friend, who was a police officer, saw where he was headed. Malone recalled getting “slick” with the family friend on one occasion. 

“You think you’re tough?” the man asked Malone.

“I don't see anybody who going to say something to me,” Malone responded. 

The family friend pulled back his fist and punched Malone in the gut. 

“Are you done?” the family friend asked, as Malone staggered. All Malone could do was nod. 

At that moment a seed was planted. Malone went to Fork Union Military Academy for two years. Then, he moved back to New York and began working security at nightclubs as a 15-year-old. 

Malone has now been working in law enforcement for 26 years, including 15 at VCU. He moved back to Virginia with his mom, starting in a security position at VCU. He worked in corrections and for a private security firm before returning to work at VCU. 

He said his work experience has changed how he approaches his job. He prefers to talk things through. He also tries to put himself in the other person’s shoes. 

“When the police come, usually, we're coming at your worst moment,” he said.

The intensity of the work has led him to find ways to decompress, like playing video games, traveling, and most recently joining Richmond’s chapter of the Good Time Gang Cigar Club. After a long day, the club offers a space for fellowship and relaxation. And who knows what the next day will bring when he clocks in at 5 A.M.? Whether it's interacting with someone at their worst moment or simply tying a tie, Malone will be there. 

“Usually when people see this big guy coming, they know the big guy’s about his business,” he said. “But at the same time too, the big guy’s also a big teddy bear.”

(VCU is a sponsor of The Richmonder, but did not influence or review this story.)