The NBA icon wants to improve police and community relations.
Shaquille O’Neal rarely turns down a job and now he has a new gig as the Director of Community Relations at the Henry County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia.
There aren’t many details but according to WSB-TV, Sheriff Reginald Scandrett said O’Neal will help bridge “the gap between the community and law enforcement.”
O’Neal, who has two sons, has been outspoken about police violence in the past. In June, he told Jimmy Kimmel Live!, “I have to talk with them all the time. I told them, ‘First of all, you have to try to diffuse the situation or show respect. If you have to understand that these people are also out here to do all their jobs. So you try to diffuse the situation. If it happens to get rough, don’t say anything, don’t do anything, just comply.'”
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Sadly, even when people do everything right during a police interaction, the result can still be a deadly one. This is a fact the basketball legend acknowledges, “‘And then when all is said and done, you call me, and if stuff gets out of hand, then I will handle it.”
O’Neal has a long history with police around the country. Back in 2005, O’Neal was named an honorary US Deputy Marshall after he attended the Los Angeles County’s Reserve Academy.
In March of 2019, he was named an honorary deputy in Broward County, Florida.
The 48-year-old was also appointed as a special reserve in Louisiana by the St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office in October of 2020.