Out on his routine nightly rounds, Slater Kellstrom and I arrived at one of his client’s buildings to find the door unlocked and alarm blaring.

A siren cut through the darkness and snow was beginning to fall, dampening the radio chatter that crackled from the marked car behind us. I held a cold metal flashlight up as the tall, heavily armed man cautiously opened the door.

“Armed security officer, if there’s anybody in here, identify yourself now!” yelled Kellstrom, owner of APR Security, a private security company dedicated to keeping businesses in Redmond safe.

No response.

He waves for me to back up. I obey but trip over a box and my heart skips a beat. These kind of late night rounds, not knowing what is out there in the darkness, are routine for Kellstrom.

It’s a lot like police work, only the responsibility is to the personal property of private clients — not the community at large.

I tagged along with him on his first round of checks. Standing at an imposing at 6-feet, 4-inches, Kellstrom sports an armored vest brimming with tactical accouterments — including a Glock 17 9mm handgun, two spare magazines, pepper gel, ballistic panel armored vest, HD body camera, high-end flashlights, portable GPS enabled cellular radio, CAT tourniquet and trauma shears.

The first place we went to had problems with people sleeping in front of the door and becoming combative upon waking. We later found out that the trespassers were often armed. They had made employees feel unsafe and was the impetus for the client hiring APR Security. We checked in the nooks and crannies around the building, but it appeared that his previous patrols had already served as an effective deterrent. Tonight, all was quiet.

Visiting the next client, we found another unlocked door. Per standard procedure, Kellstrom notified his dispatch partner, another private security firm, and walked in for a check. I followed close behind. He has to notify potential intruders of his presence and does a top-down search of the property. We check around and shine flashlights around tight corners where people are likely to hide. One last trip to the creaky second floor revealed no one. The radio on Kellstrom’s shoulder hissed an update from his business partner: “Code 4. All clear.”

Apparently, it is an all-too-common occurrence for doors to be left open. Being that it was a new property, Kellstrom didn’t have the alarm code. So there we were, standing in the increasingly frigid night with the piercing alarm in our ears, trying to get a hold of the property owners.

A groggy yet concerned voice returned the answer we needed, but the owner still had to come lock the door.

We also visited another location Kellstrom describes as a “black hole,” which means there are few lights or other safety precautions. He believes in four security imperatives — physical security, lighting, cameras and patrol service — but it’s ideal to have a combination of each.

After two years of working on the APR Security car by night and driving commercial trucks by day, Kellstrom officially launched the company in July 2022.

He said starting the business was a way to follow his passion and be his own boss.

For more information, contact Slater Kellstrom, Owner and Operator, Armed Patrol & Response Security, LLC, 541-647-3565, contact@apr-security.com or go to apr-security.com.

APR Security told the Spokesman that it comes down to four things that you need to sufficiently secure your property: physical security, lighting, cameras and patrol service.

1. Physical security

Fences, barbed wire, locks are essential for the basest level of security, but only if you keep them up, Kellstrom warns. On many of his properties, poorly maintained fences and unraveled barbed wire abound and he just has to roll with it. And, of course, remembering to lock it helps.

2. Lighting

A friend to the moth and an enemy to the burglar, light is an effective crime deterrent. Kellstrom has been forced to patrol in the pitch black many times and, he says, can mean the difference between a crime being reported or not even witnessed at all; it also makes his job easier.

3. Cameras

It’s hard to go anywhere without ending up on someone’s CCTV footage. That’s why, according to Kellstrom, there’s no excuse not to have them. Dummy cameras aside, having recordable surveillance also helps companies like APR to be more everywhere all at once.

4. Patrol Services

While great for evidentiary purposes after the fact, cameras are still easily defeated via masks, spray paint or destruction. The only way to stop crime as it happens is if a person is there to intervene and be able to collect circumstantial evidence just out of camera’s reach.