BUNCH OF PRIDE FATHER WATCHES SON JOIN FORCES AS LAPD OFFICER.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The similarities are obvious: They're both named Daniel Bunch, they're both - as of Friday - sworn officers in the Los Angeles Police Department, both are fathers.

Just hours after the younger Bunch graduated Friday from the police academy in Elysian Park, he was asked his thoughts on his own infant son one day following in his occupational footsteps.

``No, I don't think I'd like him to become a police officer,'' Bunch said. His beaming father, Sgt. Daniel Bunch, let slip a knowing laugh at his son's answer.

``I felt the same way when he was in diapers,'' the elder Bunch said of his 22-year-old son. ``If you asked me then, I would've said the same thing: No way. But he's grown up, and he's a responsible person. He can handle it.''

Dedicating their lives to law enforcement, it seems, is rampant in the Santa Clarita Valley family. The elder Bunch's brother is a senior officer in the department, and the family's newest member of the force married the daughter of a department veteran.

Just five years out of high school, Bunch trained as a firefighter before taking a position as a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy. He finished his lateral academy training - a system reserved for those who have served in other law-enforcement agencies - and has been walking his Los Angeles police beat for a month.

As about 45 graduates fought the nervous butterflies during Friday's ceremony, Bunch said he experienced the same excited elation on his last day of lateral training.

``That's the day I had the butterflies,'' he said. ``I knew just how the others felt (Friday). It's like, you're so excited, you're not even thinking. But you've trained so hard that even if you don't (consciously) hear the commands, you just do it. It's just drilled in.''

Bunch's father said he had the opportunity to observe his son on the department's firing range recently, without his son's knowledge. Watching his oldest of three at work filled him with pride and respect.

``He didn't know I was there. But I'm watching him on his last day of training and he's just locked on,'' Sgt. Bunch said. ``How he handled himself, yeah, I was pretty proud.''

As he was formally welcomed to the force Friday, Bunch's wife and baby were there to celebrate his accomplishment. As the daughter of a police department veteran, the 20-year-old said her own upbringing serves her well.

``You hear the wives talk about (the worry) sometimes,'' she said. ``But I grew up watching my mom and how she dealt with being married to (a police officer). Some wives who aren't used to it might freak out if they don't hear from their husbands for six or seven hours, but when you've grown up with it, it's a little different.''

The Bunch family plans to celebrate with a trip to Disneyland.

Amy Raisin, [phone]

amy.raisin(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Daniel Bunch, center, poses with his father, Sgt. Daniel Bunch, left, and his father-in-law, Steve Griffith. All are Santa Clarita residents and members of the LAPD.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer