Nick Thompson, CEO of Patrol Services International, sits in one of his company's offices near the emergency room at St. Charles Bend, where the company has a contract to patrol.

Nick Thompson is looking to expand the ranks, coverage area and business model of his Bend-based private security company, Patrol Services International.

His employees cruise the streets at random times in official-looking vehicles. They also have contracts to patrol at specific sites, such as Redmond Airport, McMenamins Old St. Francis School, the Hooker Creek Cos. LLC facility, St. Charles Bend and Mount Bachelor Village. They even work in some state parks.

Their goal? To prevent crimes, not to make arrests. If backup becomes necessary, the company’s patrol officers call local law enforcement.

Some Patrol Services officers are armed, Thompson said, but they have never used their guns.Most officers wear black uniforms with badges and shoulder patches, similar to but slightly different from the type worn by many law enforcement agencies.

Thompson said he served in numerous police roles — officer, detective, vice, plainclothes, pilot, marine patrol — for more than a decade, mostly for the police department in West Sacramento, Calif. He was injured twice and left the police in 1994, he said.

He sold cellphones in Sacramento and retired. He lived on an island. He became a commercial pilot. In 1999, he moved to Bend, where he worked as a general contractor and became aware of “a real demand for professional security,” he said. So he started Patrol Services in 2005. It has grown from one employee — just Thompson himself — to 30, mostly in Central Oregon, he said. Training includes restraint and de-escalation techniques, Thompson said.

This year, Patrol Services began franchising, and now has operations in Columbus, Ohio, and Orlando, Fla. Thompson wants people elsewhere, the world over, to start Patrol Services International franchises of their own.

Running the business from his home in Bend, Thompson, 51, spends his days trying to gain more business for Patrol Services. He peruses requests for proposals for private security services from cities, states, even federal government agencies. He travels to different states and continents to give presentations on the company.

Q: How is the company expanding?

A: Once I decided to expand, I realized that the smaller owner-operator business is the real model to give the best customer service possible. The giant corporations cannot provide anywhere near the level (of service) as an owner-operator. So, instead of expanding … as a big corporation, we decided to sell franchises. It’ll put owner-operators in place in various cities. We just started that this year. Just (last) week, we … had inquiries from the entire country of India as well as Dubai, and we’ve sold out the (states) of Hawaii, Arizona, and New Jersey.

Q: You’ve sold them out? What do you mean?

A: These are investor groups. They’re buying territories so they can resell, because they recognize the demand and they recognize the success that we have.

Q: Do you think your company might start to perform other functions besides crime prevention, such as making arrests?

A: We certainly don’t want to have to do that, but we do have the capability, of course. We would prefer to maintain, you know, the preventive measures. That’s really our focus. We’re not trying to replace the police. We’re not trying to be police. We’re trying to offer the most effective crime-prevention tool there is. And that’s what we’ve been able to do very successfully.

Q: Would the work in India be a contract from the nation of India?

A: No, this is all done privately. But there’s lots and lots of federal contracts I see. … There’s a lot of demand throughout the world for private security, and it’s growing, and that’s what we’re promoting. Our concept here is on a worldwide level. So the India contract would be a person who would own a private-security company for Patrol Services International throughout India, for example, or Dubai. We’ve also had interest in Puerto Rico. Every state in the union, basically, has expressed some interest.

The basics

What: Patrol Services International

Where: Bend

Employees: 30

Phone: 541-617-9999

Website: www.patrolservices.org