RAMS founder Everett Langford had a vision for the future of the security industry. When he retired as US Marshall for the District of Oregon he went to work in private security. He found an industry with low pay, little training and few incentives for professionalism. He applied his vision of promoting a professional, well-trained security force in 1980 when he founded RAMS Specialized Security Service.

Since 1988, Jo Ann Gish has continued Everett’s vision in her role as General Manager. In 2001, RAMS became a Women-Owned Business when she added the role of President to her list of duties.

Jo Ann holds a University of Oregon MBA and was one of the first women in the Pacific Northwest to complete the stringent requirements necessary to obtain the security industry’s highest designation of Certified Protection Professional (CPP) with the American Society for Industrial Security. She has served in various leadership roles in ASIS, including Chapter Chair and Assistant Regional Vice-President.

In the mid-1990’s Jo Ann was one of the industry leaders who worked to get legislative approval for certification and standards for private security in Oregon. She then served as Chair of the Armed Security Subcommittee that developed the initial Armed Training Standards and Curriculum for armed security officers in the State of Oregon. RAMS has been licensed as a security provider in the State of Washington since 1992, the first year of the Washington private security license program.

Our commitment to the vision of the Professional Security Officer continues to this day. Long time RAMS employee and Contract Manager, Shawn Cardwell has also chaired the State Armed Security Subcommittee and in 2008 he was appointed by Governor Kulongoski to one of the two private security seats on the State of Oregon Board on Public Safety Standards and Training.

During the last three decades we have never strayed far from our original mission, though our client list has been diverse. A representative sample would reveal the likes of the Army Corps of Engineers, Bonneville Power Administration, Eugene Water & Electric Board, Fred Meyer, General Services Administration, Oregon Military Department, Oregon State Police, Symantec Corporation, and United States Navy.

RAMS operates at that “Just Right Level”. Large, sophisticated and experienced enough to have the resources to fulfill any demand, yet small and flexible enough to be quickly responsive to the needs of a wide variety of clients and to maintain close relationships with our employees.

RAMS Specialized Security has never tried to be all things to all people or dabble in every aspect of security. Instead, we have chosen to specialize, focus and become the best at what we do…Providing an elite force of almost exclusively armed officers to State or Federal Government Agencies, with an emphasis on Critical Infrastructure Protection. We have been told countless times we do it better than anyone else!

RAMS takes great pride in the outstanding reputation it has earned throughout the Northwest. We have been successful in obtaining and renewing contracts based upon our complete commitment to customer service; demanding quality and integrity in everything we do; meeting and exceeding exacting work statement requirements; and giving our clients exceptional value for their security dollars.

Dunn & Bradstreet - Past Performance Evaluation