Shaquille O’Neal Leads Very GNV Parade With Controversial Officer Bobby White
Edited Dec 9: The financial information for the parade that was originally reported was not up to date. City of Gainesville Public Information Officer Rossana Passaniti said a final list of expenditures will be available after the new year.
Gainesville Police Department (GPD) Officer Robert Paul “Bobby” White stood with Shaquille O’Neal Saturday afternoon as he grand marshalled the Very GNV Holiday Parade.
On October 2, the City of Gainesville named O’Neal the Grand Marshal of the Very GNV Holiday parade. The press release states the event is “largely funded by local sponsors.”
UF Health and the Cox Companies donated at least $10,000.
Last year, Gainesville held their first Very GNV Holiday parade, which was grand marshaled by Steve Spurrier. The parade was reportedly “championed” by City Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut and will be a yearly tradition in Gainesville.
The City of Gainesville commended both O’Neal and White, stating, “O’Neal is one of the most famous basketball players in the world, racking up four National Basketball Association (NBA) championships, an Olympic gold medal, and a 2016 induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. That same year, O’Neal surprised a group of neighborhood children in our community by playing street basketball alongside Gainesville Police Department Officer Bobby White.”
O’Neal put on a Santa hat and chatted with White before the parade began. (video cred. gnvinfo)
White and O’Neal led the parade on a boat and were followed by several state officials, and Gainesville City and Alachua County Commissioners.
On January 15, 2016, White was called out for a complaint of kids playing basketball “loudly.” A dashcam video showed White walking up to one of the kids and saying, “Can you believe someone is calling to complain about kids playing basketball?” White shot hoops with the kids and the video went viral. The fame helped White start the Basketball Cop Foundation.
White’s fame came amidst exponential increases in law enforcement agencies using social media to promote community policing.
According to “Social Media Engagement Tactics in U.S. Community Policing," "the International Association for Chiefs of Police (IACP) [reported] 81.1% of agencies used social media in 2010, with 40.6% using it for community outreach/citizen engagement. By Fall 2015, that number had climbed to 96.4% using social media, with 83.4% reporting that they used it for community outreach/citizen engagement."
White's personnel file states he's interviewed with news agencies at both national and international levels, appearing on Good Morning America, Sky News London, and Fuji TV Japan, to name a few.
On January 23, 2016, GPD published a video where White met O’Neal. The two played basketball with the same local teenagers who White played with. O’Neal told the kids, “You can be anything you wanna be. I’m from the same neighborhood y'all are from; I grew up just like this. Only you can change this, and you can change it to basketball and showing respect to your peers.”
O’Neal gave a few of the kids $100 for shots they made. When O’Neal gave them the money, he said, “Don’t ever take money from another stranger, you understand? I’m a man of my word, but don’t be taking money from people.”
O’Neal told the kids, “You know how much money I made as a youngster, $700,000,000. You know how I made that? Respecting my peers, listening to my [mom] and [dad], and focusing on school. That’s all you gotta do.”
At the end of the video, GPD reported that “This is a day those kids will never forget. The day when Shaq rolled up to their neighborhood to play ball. All because GPD Officer Bobby White decided to handle a complaint like thousands of police officers do daily around the country.”
White and O’Neal revisited the same kids from the video after the parade, and O’Neal gave them cars for keeping their promise to listen to their parents and doing good in school.
After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, Gainesville native Chanae Jackson posted a video where White is slamming her son into the hood of a patrol car. The New York Times reported that “with just a click on Facebook, she set off an uproar that stripped away not only Mr. White’s image as the face of what good neighborhood policing should be but also the assumption.”
White reportedly declined to interview with the NY Times and gave them a 2015 internal investigation that cleared him of wrongdoing.
White's personnel file states's he began working for GPD in 2008.
White's internal affairs employee resume states that in 2010 he was accused of harassment and racial profiling. He was exonerated of harassment, and the racial profiling accusations were unfounded.
In 2011, White was accused of improper contact in a police-citizen encounter and internal investigators determined no misconduct occurred.
In 2012, White received complaints for failing to write an incident report, failing to conduct a proper investigation, and racially profiling a citizen before unlawfully searching them. The racial profiling and improper investigation allegations were not founded by internal investigators. The incident report submission failure accusation was sustained and White was suspended for zero days.
In 2013, White received five improper conduct accusations. Internal investigators exonerated him in one case, unfounded him in another, and found no misconduct in the rest.
In 2014, White was accused of improperly conducting a search and conducting an inefficient pursuit. The failed pursuit accusation was founded, and he was given a written warning, but the misconduct accusation was unfounded.
In 2015, White was accused of improper contact twice and he was unfounded twice.
In 2016, White was accused of poor workmanship and conducting an improper investigation, and the allegations were respectively not sustained and unfounded.
In 2018, White was unfounded for accusations of committing an improper investigation.
According to “Police, Practice, and Research,” “In one national survey of 2,000 Americans that was conducted by the Cato Institute in 2016, respondents were asked, 'When a police officer is suspected of criminal wrongdoing, do you think the police department should investigate the case itself or should an outside law enforcement agency take over the investigation?' The results of the survey indicated that 79% of respondents supported having an outside law enforcement agency handle the investigation.”
“Moreover, cities where the police internal affairs unit served as the investigatory entity but had their outcome decisions (i.e., dispositions) reviewed by an external civilian oversight agency were significantly more likely to sustain complaints,” reports “Citizens Complaints Against Police: An Eight City Examination.”
The NY Times reported that White liked a social media comment that stated, “What about the thousands of black babies aborted each year? Why is it different when a white person is killed similarly by the police?" White helped build the basketball court at Ignite Life Center, whose pastor has made similar comments.
The Basketball Cop Foundation remains actively registered as a non-profit. White runs the foundation with former GPD Public Information Officer Benjamin Tobias and GPD Officer Rebecca Holcomb.
The NY Times reported that an officer who White dated named Becki Holcomb called Jackson a “race baiter” for posting the video of White slamming her son.
White caused controversy in October 2024 after arresting a robbery suspect at Gainesville Christian Center with several other GPD officers.
One of the kids who played basketball with White told the NY Times, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a video of every policeman in the world like that,” regarding White slamming Jackson’s son.
O’Neal reportedly was a reserve officer for the Los Angeles Port Police Reserve in 2002 and became a sheriff deputy in Jonesboro, Georgia in 2016.
O’Neal held a show at Vivid Music Hall Saturday night a few hours after the parade.
GnvInfo reached out to O’Neal’s team on Shaq.com to request an on-phone or in-person interview with O’Neal about his thoughts on community police initiatives amidst his standing next to White.
White was selected for GPD's drone operation team in 2021 but its unclear if he still holds the position. White has responded to calls on the ground throughout this year.
White actively works with kids through the Basketball Cop Foundation.
