Shaq announces bid for Henry County Sheriff

Shaquille O’Neal is planning a run for Henry County Sheriff in 2020.

That’s according to a report by the Washington Post on Thursday. The Hall of Famer told the publication he’s interested in a career in law enforcement and planning to make a bid, but he’s actually been dropping hints since May.

He told The Washington Post:

“The gap between law enforcement and communities is too spread out. When I was coming up, police were real respected. I don’t know how it’s gotten so far apart, but I know in the community that I live in, I know that I could change some of that…The plan is to really preach accountability, to really preach respect and really teach to treat people as human beings.”

The 45-year-old retired basketball player is no newbie to law enforcement, having served as a deputy mashal in Lousiana and a reserve police officer in Florida. As recently as last year, O’Neal was sworn as a deputy in Clayton County and he purchased a home in McDonough around the same time, so the pieces are certainly falling into place.

It’s sure to have current Sheriff Keith McBrayer a little nervous. He’s been serving the county of 218,000 since 2008. Henry County has a public safety budget of over $68 million split between the Sheriff’s Office, the Henry County PD, and the fire department.