The legendary NBA player Shaquille O’Neal is not only known for his on-court feats, but also for his enormous riches. O’Neal has achieved success outside of basketball since ending his 19-year career in that sport in 2011. O’Neal has expanded and explored ventures in a variety of fields since quitting the NBA 11 years ago. In fact, his full professional history doesn’t fit his LinkedIn profile. He’s also picked up a few odd jobs along the road. One of these ‘jobs’ is being a cop in both Los Angeles and Miami. What makes this even more interesting and strange is just how much he makes a year while ‘on duty’.
It all started when he was designated an honorary US Deputy Marshall while attending the Los Angeles County Reserve Academy. However, after being traded to the Miami Heat, he was shortly hired as an officer with the Miami Beach Police Department.
Briefly, after getting to Miami from Los Angeles, Shaq assisted the Miami Beach Police Department in arresting a man charged with aggravated assault on a gay couple. He allegedly hurled homophobic comments at them and threw a bottle at them. At 3 a.m., O’Neal witnessed the entire incident and followed the man in his car until officials arrived to catch him. He was soon honored by the police department.
Basketball legend @SHAQ goes by many nicknames, and now added to that list is Deputy Shaq. The big man now works as an auxillary deputy with the #BSO. Sheriff Tony sat down with Shaq and the two talked about the different ways law enforcement works to keep communities safe. pic.twitter.com/H8j2lwUm0B
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) March 15, 2019
Shaquille O’Neal took it upon himself in 2005 to help prevent the spread of child s*x predators online. Since the internet was still in its infancy in the early to mid-2000s, online chat rooms were quite common. This enabled Shaq to impersonate a child and capture these people in the act of committing a crime.
Funnily enough, Shaq’s salary as a police officer is exactly $1 a year. While being a police officer brings in a lot of praise for the star.
