He played a cop on TV. Now he’s training to become one

Jerry O’Donnell in academy training with fellow police recruits. Asheville Police Department

When he first put on a police badge, Jerry O’Donnell did it for the cameras.

Over a 40-year career, he often played law enforcement officers in shows like “Dexter,” “Alias,” and “NYPD Blue,” among others.

Now, the actor is training to become a real police officer.

At 65, O’Donnell is hitting the weights, doing push-ups, and running several miles a week alongside recruits decades younger than he is.

“I was in the Army, and they asked me, ‘Did you fight for the North or the South?’” O’Donnell recalled his classmates saying, with a laugh. “People don’t bust your chops unless they love you.”

His ambition to start a new career — at an age when so many are thinking about retirement — was