Dan Aykroyd is the new sheriff in town. The actor/comedian was sworn on Friday as a reserve sheriff’s deputy in Hinds County, Mississippi.
“It’s an honor to join these ranks today. I understand the challenges that law enforcement face in today’s world,” the SNL alum and Ghostbusters and Blues Brothers star, 61, said at his swearing-in ceremony. Aykroyd has 16 years of police experience in Louisiana, and had submitted a letter asking to join the reserve officer force.
According to Hinds County Sheriff Tyrone Lewis, “He’s very qualified. He can hit the ground running, and he has credentials and has put in a letter of request. Today we’re going to honor that letter of request.”
Aykroyd is starring in a new movie — which is filming in the area — about James Brown called Get On Up in which he portrays Brown’s long-time manager.
He quipped that since the old capitol building is supposedly haunted and that he will be doing double duty as a ghostbuster and a sheriff. Aykroyd also plans to fundraise for the cash-strapped sheriff’s office. “I am able to go all over the world now and talk up this county, talk up this state and talk up the people of the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department.”
As The Inquisitr has reported , Dan Aykroyd is also on a mission to promote the blues and keep the blues genre alive on the radio and in concerts. For the past 22 years, he has hosted a radio show called The Blues Mobile , one that is now syndicated in close to 200 stations across the country. Last month, along with many other artists, he was in Chicago to honor blues legend Lonnie Brooks at the House of Blues. After spending more than a decade developing Ghostbusters 3 , Aykroyd also recently announced that he has renewed efforts to bring the movie to the big screen.
Watch Dan Aykroyd take the oath of office as a reserve deputy sheriff:
[top image credit: Anthony Quintano ]
