David Saunders says he was “born and raised” in the Barriere area.
“I come from a pioneer family that settled right here,” said Saunders in an interview with this newspaper last week.
“In fact, Armour Mountain, which sits on the south side of Barriere was named after my great grandfather Louis Armour,” said Saunders, noting, “There is lots of information about the family in the Kamloops Archives.”
Saunders also pointed out that another mountain in Louis Creek, Mount Gaudreau, is named after his grandmother’s father, and that there is a plaque commemorating the Gaudreau family as settlers of the area situated at the Wildfire Dragon Monument site in Louis Creek.
“I have very deep roots in this area, especially with Barriere,” said Saunders.
And because of those roots and his love for the area, Saunders says he wants to see the community remain a peaceful and friendly place to live and raise your family. He points out that for the last few years there has been a high degree of vandalism at properties with summer homes and cabins.
“Part of the problem is the places are not often easy to access for police and security to keep a check on them,” said Saunders, “That’s why I believe my experience of a lifetime in the area, as well as extensive logging in the area, gives me the knowledge to have an easier time of getting around and checking on these places. The area is too vast and there are not enough people around to help deter vandalism and thefts.”
Saunders says he decided to start up his own security company when he saw that there was definitely a need.
“I’m not going to log forever, and the population jumps 1500 to 2000 people in the summer. That’s just too much for our police force to deal with, considering the large area they have to look after,” said Saunders. “I’ve been working on this for the past few years. Placing the correct people into the job, and the correct vehicles for the rural area roads and weather conditions we have to deal with here.”
Saunders says his new company, Valley Protection, has three people on the payroll right now, and another class in training to get their Basic Security License through the Justice Institute of BC. Saunders says he is the only resident security company in the immediate area, and although he is already getting calls from other parts of the valley, such as Clearwater, he really just wants to concentrate on the Barriere area for now.
With three vehicles in full operation the company is already proving its worth.
“All of our work is done in the afternoon and at night,” says Saunders. He explains that a mobile patrol that can cover an area multiple times during a night, such as an industrial park, is a big deterrent to criminals and mischief makers.
“We have camera and video on all of our units. So that every event is recorded, it runs all the time. Kind of a full meal deal. “It also gives us a complete record of each patrol, time marked, etcetera.”
Saunders says they do a lot of checking on homes when folks are away on vacation, or summer cottages that are only used for a short time each year. They have residential, commercial and industrial facilities on their list. Saunders says the mantra of the company will probably be “loss prevention” and also “evidence collection” for the client and law enforcement agencies if they request it. Valley Protection will be taking notes, videos and photographs.
Saunders says, “It’s a fact that when you do have a mobile patrol vehicle out and about it can reduce crime up to 60 per cent in those areas being patrolled.
“Bad people don’t want to be near the light. They will definitely recognize who we are. As soon as they see the lights and read that window they will be gone.”
He notes it has taken a little bit of time to put all the pieces together to get Valley Protection up and running; insurance in force, a District of Barriere business license, vehicle insurance, training, etcetera.
“As soon as I started with this idea I had to start putting potential customers on hold until I got everything in place,” says Saunders, “And I have had quite a bit of interest from business and industry owners in the area.”
Saunders says he has really good people on staff, and now it will “be a marketing thing” to get the word out about his company.
“I worked hard to hire people from Barriere - they know the area - and that is really important to me. All my vehicles are four wheel drive, a little micro car that’s cheap on gas just won’t do. This is a seven day all year program.
Dave Saunders and Valley Protection Contract Mobile Protection can be contacted by calling 778-220-7181 or emailing: valleyprotection@ hotmail.com