Is Shaquille O'Neal a real cop? Taking a closer look at NBA legend's career as sheriff

Shaquille O'Neal is one of the greatest players in NBA history. O'Neal has a great character and is a good human being for all the charity he has done over the years. He has also been always interested in having a career in law enforcement.

So, is the LA Lakers legend a real policeman? He first became involved in law enforcement when he was with the Lakers and went through the LA County Sheriff's Reserve Academy. He also did the necessary work to become a reserve officer for the LA Port Police.

O'Neal then became an honorary United States Deputy Marshal on Mar. 2, 2005, for his work with the Safe Surfin' Foundation. He was a spokesperson for a task force that finds sexual predators on the internet.

"We want to get these predators off-line," O'Neal told Good Morning America in 2005. "It's very disturbing to see that anyone would want to harm a child especially in a sexual manner, very, very disturbing."

When he was traded to the Miami Heat, Shaquille O'Neal trained to become a reserve officer for the Miami Beach Police Department. O'Neal was sworn in as a reserve officer on Dec. 8, 2005, in a private ceremony.

A year later in Bedford County, Virginia, O'Neal was part of a raid even though he was not a qualified SWAT officer. The Bedford County Sheriff's Department named him an honorary deputy for his actions. He's also a special deputy for Maricopa County in Arizona.

Four years after he had retired from the NBA, O'Neal became a reserve officer for the Doral Police Department in Florida. He was also sworn in as a sheriff's deputy in Jonesboro, Georgia in Dec. 2016. He holds the record as the tallest sheriff's deputy on record in the United States.

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Shaquille O'Neal played a cop in a movie

Shaquille O'Neal plays Officer Fluzoo on 'Grown Ups 2.'

Shaquille O'Neal may be a real sheriff's deputy, but he has also played a police officer in Adam Sandler's 2013 movie Grown Ups 2. O'Neal portrayed the character of Officer Fluzoo, the younger brother of Tim Meadows' Malcolm Fluzoo.

The Hall of Fame center had several hilarious scenes in the movie, including a short dance number, while confronting the four main casts. He also flung a villainous teenager over a house during the film's climactic fight scene.