You may not recognize Police Chief Jonathan Searle today, but you might remember his face as a child in the 1970s.
Searle, who is from Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, made an appearance in the classic movie Jaws filmed in the summer of 1975. On a busy beach day, Searle played one of two little boys who frighten beachgoers by flinging a cardboard fin through the waves.
In real life, Searle wasn’t quite as mischievous as the character he played in Jaws. In fact, the town board of Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts recently elected him as their new Police Chief.
Searle has worked for the Edgartown Police Department since 1986. He will be replacing the Oak Bluffs Police Department’s retiring police chief.
“I’m clearly elated and I’m humbled and honored to have been offered the position,” he told The Vineyard Gazette.
“It’s something I’ve been working toward my whole career.”
RavennaMiceli Police Memorial Week. I’m with the late George Searle former, Chief of Police Edgartown Mass. pic.twitter.com/ozXmkJ0adK
— oWOW Radio (@oWOWRadio) May 9, 2015
Law enforcement is a bit of a family tradition for Searle. His father, George Searle, served as the police chief of Edgartown from 1981 to 1995.
Searle definitely sees the irony between the role of his film character and his current career. “I’m finding the whole thing quite funny myself!”
Watch Searle’s early claim to fame in the clip from Jaws below.
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