Anderson company chosen to guard Gov. Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin, 11th Governor of Alaska

Photo by Photo courtesy of Dick Woolf

READY TO ROLL: Two of Dick Woolf’s 22 full-time security guards. The company will provide security for former Alaskan Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday, Feb. 8.

When Alaska's former Governor Sarah Palin arrives in Redding on Monday, Feb. 8, for two speaking engagements during the 61st Sierra-Cascade Logging Conference, she will be surrounded and protected by members of Woolf Security and Investigations, Inc., of Anderson.

The three-year-old South County firm was launched in October 2006 as a private investigations firm by Dick Woolf, who spent 28 years with the Shasta County Sheriffs Office, retiring in 2000 as the Boating Safety Commander at Shasta Lake. In July 2007, Woolf began offering private security services to his clients.

Due to a non-disclosure agreement that Woolf has signed with the logging show's organizers as well as with Palin's promoter, Alan Falino of Slow Hand Productions, Woolf is not at liberty yet to discuss any specifics of the safety precautions being taken to protect the politician, author and political commentator who served as the 11th Governor of Alaska between 2006 and her resignation from that post in 2009.

Palin was also the Republican nominee for Vice President in 2008, on the ticket with John McCain. She was the first woman to be so honored and widely recognized as a national political figure by the Republican Party.

"All I can tell you is we were hired to provide the security for the Convention Center during her visit," Woolf, 62, told the Valley Post Thursday, Jan. 28.

Palin, now a Fox News contributor, can rest assured that Woolf and his highly-trained security officers are up to the demanding tasks of keeping her safe, he said.

"We're pretty proud of our crew," noted Woolf. "I have 32 employees with 22 of them full-time. We have several retired law enforcement professionals who just enjoy working part-time."

Woolf security officers have all completed the Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) academy.

"We've also got a good assortment of ex-cops and guys right out of the armed forces, so we like to pair up some of the younger guys to work with our older, retired guys," Woolf said.

Each new hire then receives 40 hours of specific training from Woolf's own operations manager and training officer, Jeff Hogue, who spent 17 years with the Anderson Police Department before working as a compliance officer for WinRiver Casino.

When his crew members are not providing security for celebrities like Palin, Woolf keeps them busy patrolling 75-80 homes and businesses including CH2MHill, the Redding branch of the Shasta Public Library and all of the restoration work being done in Manton to restore large portions of Battle Creek.

"We also have a couple of businesses equipped with video cameras that we do monitor as well," said Woolf, who prefers to have his security force on the ground for instant response and more effective surveillance.

On the other side of the security and investigations business, Woolf and his law enforcement-trained crew members also conduct private investigations.