John Bunnell

For the co-founder of Dragon*Con, see Dragon Con.
John Bunnell
Born (1944-05-25) May 25, 1944
Pendleton, Oregon
Other names Sheriff Bunnell
Relatives Mary Lee Host
Awards Gold in shooting

Police career

Current status Retired, now as actor.
Department Multnomah County Sheriff's Office
Years of service 1969–1995
Rank Sheriff
Other work Actor, Host of World's Wildest 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 2001. Spike TV has purchased a new season of World's Wildest Police Videos and John Bunnell began hosting the new episodes starting May 7, 2012, on which he also serves as a co-executive producer.

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. In the spring of 1995, Bunnell ran against Dan Noelle for Multnomah County Sheriff. Bunnell lost the election to Noelle, who assumed office in June, 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, which he also hosted.

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. His COPS segments involved drug crimes as seen in this video.[2]

Media appearances

His appearances on several early episodes of COPS conducting drug stings led to him hosting World's Wildest Police Videos. Bunnell attained a cult following due to his over-the-top commentary style. Bunnell hosted the show, which originally ran from 1998 to 2001 and again since 2012, 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 meanings 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, "Due to the graphic nature of this game, player discretion is advised," similar to the warning at the beginning of the counterpart television program. 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.

See also

References

  1. A History of Multnomah County Sheriffs at the Wayback Machine (archived September 30, 2007). Retrieved 22 January 2007.
  2. Bunnell COPS segment, youtube
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