Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal has applied to be a reserve police officer in Florida Getty

Florida's criminals could soon feel an enormous hand of the law after NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal applied to be become a police officer.

O'Neal - who stands at 7ft 1in and has size 22 feet - will undergo a fitness test before he can graduate into Florida city Doral's reserve force and catch the Sunshine State's reprobates rather than rebounds.

The 42-year-old - who is known globally as Shaq - is a four-time NBA champion and considered one of the league's greatest ever players, having been named an NBA All-Star no fewer than 15 times during his illustrious 19-year career.

According to the Miami Herald, despite O'Neal's hero status in America, he will "have to do everything else to be certified by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, just like any of our other officers, reserve or not reserve," City of Doral spokeswoman Christina Baguer said.

It would not be the first time O'Neal, who weighs 147kg and enjoyed spells at the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Cleveland Caviliers among others, has joined the boys in blue.

He previously worked as a reserve police officer in Miami Beach and in a past 2014 application said his skills included "laptop computer, binoculars, master of surveillance".