This longtime law enforcement officer is the best choice for Placer County sheriff

While violent crime and homicide rates have risen across California during the pandemic, they have remained flat in Placer County. One of California’s fastest-growing counties, Placer is expected to experience unprecedented expansion over the next few decades. That growth – and its potential impact on crime rates – is top of mind for the two candidates running to be Placer County’s next sheriff.

With current Placer County Sheriff Devon Bell set to retire at the end of 2022, his undersheriff, Wayne Woo, is not only a natural successor. He’s also a rare and impressive kind of candidate: qualified, level-headed and innovative.

Running against Woo is administrative Sgt. Brandon Bean, an experienced peace officer who worked for the Roseville Police Department for 14 years before moving to the Placer County Sheriff’s Office in 2013.

Woo has spent his entire life in the Sacramento and Placer region. The son of a Chinese immigrant, he worked at his father’s Sacramento area businesses before entering the police academy at the age of 20. He then began what is now a 32-year career within the Placer County Sheriff’s Office.

Woo’s family, including his children and grandchildren, all live in Placer County. He could retire – his pension is maxed out – but said he is driven to run for sheriff to protect his family and the community he loves.

“I have the experience and the passion to still serve and the drive to continue to keep Placer County one of the best places to live,” Woo said.

Running on a platform of crime prevention, Woo outlined his plan to lower recidivism rates through inmate job skills programs to get would-be repeat offenders back on their feet.

“I put it in our strategic plan that not only do I want to focus on inmate training at this job skills center, I don’t want to be as stagnant as government can be,” Woo said. “I want to reevaluate: What does our job market in the region look like every two years? The key is giving people meaningful work where they can make a living wage … (to keep them) from going back to a life of crime.”

Bean is the target of a lawsuit by former sheriff’s Sgt. Megan Yaws, who has accused him of sexual harassment. According to Yaws’ lawsuit, Bean allegedly said “I’m going to rape you” and made other graphic comments to her on a weekly basis. Bean said he denies “a lot of that allegation” but could not discuss the active litigation further.

Also troubling is Bean’s endorsement by former Graham County, Ariz., Sheriff Richard Mack, a longtime board member of the far-right militia group the Oath Keepers and the founder of both the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association and the County Sheriff Project movement, both of which falsely claim the constitutional power to refuse to enforce federal laws. Bean said he accepted the endorsement even though he doesn’t necessarily agree with Mack’s ideology.

Woo expressly denounces white supremacy and disagrees with the “constitutional sheriff ideology,” which he says he finds “dangerous.”

“I don’t get to decide what is legal and what is not legal as the sheriff,” Woo said.

Woo has been endorsed by every mayor in Placer County as well as every member of the Board of Supervisors. Placer County is likely to be safer and better run with his skilled leadership.

This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 6:00 AM.