Retiree takes up part-time career in law enforcement

By Da Lin

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    SOUTH BAY, California (KPIX) — On many days, you’ll find Bob Yee, who retired four years ago after 35 years as a tech executive, working around the house.

Now he’s about to come out of retirement to do something quite different from his previous career. Yee will join the reserve unit of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, serving as a part-time reserve deputy.

“Finishing my business career, I felt a different calling,” Yee said.

It wasn’t an overnight decision. Yee said he first volunteered as a safety ambassador in Oakland Chinatown after hearing of attacks on Asian seniors during the pandemic. He then organized a workshop to train people to use pepper spray to defend themselves. He also attended events to support crime victims.

“And this journey with helping the community out and advocating for victims of violent crime has been much more fulfilling for me and I want to continue this journey in law enforcement,” Yee said.

At age 66, Yee was the oldest in his police academy. His youngest colleague was 23. Since he excerises routinely, he said his physical health helped him get though the academy.

“We learn arrest-control technique. We learned about vehicle operations and we learned about shooting,” Yee recalled.

After Monday, he will begin months of field training.

Chances are Yee will not be doing felony search warrants or sprinting full speed to chase after bad guys. He said he would like to do policing where he can use his life experience to engage with the community. He also wants to incorporate more technology to prevent and solve crime.

“So it involves taking a lot of the business skills that I already had in my prior career and applying them to law enforcement,” Yee said.

His wife Jill Uyeda said she’s seen Yee’s transformation and that he’s much happier in this new career.

“I actually thought he would have a retirement hobby that was buidling things. I didn’t think he would be building community. So I was very pleased to hear that. I think it’s a noble thing to be doing,” Uyeda said.

Yee says his entire family supports his work and he’s ready to serve.

“I’m committed to this second career. In fact, I’m waiting anxiously for the pinning of the badge by my wife,” said Yee, who turns 67 next month.

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