John Bunnell
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| John E. Bunnell | |
|---|---|
| Retired | |
| Multnomah County Sheriff's Office | |
| Born May 25, 1944 | |
| Nickname | Sheriff Bunnell |
| Place of birth | Pendleton, Oregon |
| Years of service | 1969–1995 |
| Rank | Sheriff |
| Other work | Actor, Host of Police Videos |
John Edwin Bunnell (born May 25, 1944) is a former Sheriff of Multnomah County, Oregon. Bunnell is best known for presenting World's Wildest Police Videos between 1998 and 2002.
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[edit] Background
Bunnell was born in Pendleton, Oregon. He obtained a degree in social sciences before joining the Multnomah County Sheriff's Department in January 1969. Bunnell managed the drugs and vice unit in the 1980s. He was appointed Sheriff of Multnomah County when the previous Sheriff, Robert G. Skipper, retired in 1994 before the end of his term. Bunnell took the oath of office on November 30, 1994 and served until May 1995.[1]
Between 1989 and 1990, Multnomah County's Sheriff’s Office was featured in 15 episodes of COPS and in 1991, 13 episodes of American Detective. John Bunnell, as a Lieutenant, appeared in early episodes of both COPS and American Detective, and hosted the first season of American Detective.
He is usually referred to as "Sheriff John Bunnell" despite no longer being active in law enforcement; this is occasionally shown as "Sheriff John Bunnell [Ret]").
His son, Mark, is a corrections deputy with the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and was first seen with his father on an episode of COPS as a teenager back in 1989.
[edit] Media appearances
His appearances on several early episodes of COPS conducting drug stings led to his hosting World's Wildest Police Videos. Bunnell attained a cult following due to his over-the-top commentary style. Bunnell hosted the show, which ran from 1998 to 2002, describing situations featured on the program as they developed and offering personal opinions about the criminals and the police that pursued them using innuendos and double entendres such as "This man decided to rob a bank, now he'll learn CRIME DOESN'T PAY".
Bunnell's hosting of World's Wildest Police Videos led to him hosting a similar show, Train Wrecks, as well as many other police related specials, such as World's Scariest Police Stings, and World's Craziest Police Chases. He also appeared on America's Most Wanted.
Bunnell lends his voice to the Sony PlayStation game World's Scariest Police Chases, warning that "Due to the graphic nature of this game, player discretion is advised.", at the beginning of the game, similar to the warning at the beginning of the program, which warns that "Due to the graphic nature of this program, viewer discretion is advised." He has also had minor acting roles in Ghost World, and Bad Santa, both directed by Terry Zwigoff.
In "Quagmire's Baby" and "Something, Something, Something, Dark Side", both 2009 episodes of Family Guy, Bunnell provided the voice of himself during gags that referenced World's Wildest Police Videos.
In 2010, Bunnell appeared on commercials for the Adult Swim Block Party.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ A History of Multnomah County Sheriffs at the Wayback Machine (archived September 30, 2007). Retrieved 22 January 2007.
