Shaquille O’Neal recently described his struggles of childhood on the Raising Fame podcast. Opening up to his mother, Lucille, who is also the co-host alongside Sonya Curry, he cited g-n problems as one of the major concerns and the harsh reality of his childhood. Now that he is grown up and can actually make a difference, he has decided to help the community in this regard. Back to his old job, which Shaq took amidst his NBA career with a token annual salary of $1, he is here to spread awareness.

The Los Angeles Lakers legend is a legitimate police officer and joined the force in 2005. Shaquille O’Neal took the oath as a reserve officer with Miami Beach PD and he’s also a reserve for the Los Angeles Port Police. Joining hands with the Springfield Police Department and police departments across the country, O’Neal has a serious message for everybody.

“Take it from Shaq: ‘You may have a right to carry, but you have a duty to secure your firearms.‘” According to Iredell Free News, there are approximately 200,000 g-n thefts every year and the thefts are triple what they were a decade ago.

In conjunction with the Community Partnership of the Ozarks’ G*n Safety Collaborative, the Springfield Police Department, along with Shaq, is taking part in the Right to Carry, Duty to Secure initiative that encourages g-n owners to commit to safely storing their firearms. Amarillo Police Department from Texas was also involved and released the following statement.

APD officials told Myhighplains.com, “That’s why this PSA is a “slam dunk” for families across America.” It’s not the first time Shaq has done this for law enforcement.

Shaquille O’Neal and his recruitment strategy

LA Port Police called O’Neal to star in a recruitment video last year. The creative mind of Shaquille O’Neal did not leave any stone unturned. The video depicts a bad guy on the run when one officer says, “Send me the Big Aristotle.” Another cop said,” Let’s bring in the Big Shamrock” and the third said, “Bring in the Diesel!”

The fourth cop was confused and asked, “Who?” The 7-foot-1 phenom then arrives on the side of the truck and comes to the rescue of his uniformed colleagues. Just like he was feared on the basketball court, the same way in the video, the bad guy had no choice. One finger point towards the police vehicle was enough for Shaquille O’Neal to send the bad guy packing.

The video concludes with Shaq between his fellow officers, saying, “Team is more important than any one of us. If you have what it takes to join the Los Angeles Port Police, come on down. It’s time to dive in.” No wonder he takes this responsibility seriously. Back in 2005, O’Neal became an honorary Miami Beach police officer with a $1 annual salary after helping the police arrest a suspect accused of a-saulting a homosexual couple.

O’Neal has been very aware of his power and wants to use social media the right way. He called it “the social network is a very valuable tool. You can use it to get your message out.” There is no doubt he is using his influence the right way.