I'm Not The Sheriff...
...And I've Never Been the Deputy
Some years ago, early in the run of
the Fox Network's long-running show Cops,
the producers spent several episodes chronicling the
exploits of an undercover investigator for the Multnomah
County Sheriff's Department named John Bunnell. In
the years following this sudden fame, he rose through
the ranks, hosted an ABC series called American
Detective, ran for County Sheriff, eventually
retired from law enforcement, and continues to appear on
World's Wildest Police Videos (as well as
lending his voice to the video console game based on the
show).
Now as it happens, I live in Multnomah
County. But the retired sheriff and I are
different people -- we've never met, to the best of my
knowledge we're not related, and I can't put you in
touch with him.
This has not stopped people from
writing or calling from time to time, hoping to get in
touch with the retired sheriff, even though I have put
this same disclaimer on my answering machine. Some
of the calls are from private individuals, and very
occasionally someone in the media calls up. (I
once came home to find a phone message from
60 Minutes on the machine....) I tell
everyone the same thing: I don't know his phone number,
and I have no expertise in police work.