Oklahoma Burglar and Fire
Alarm Association
P.O. Box 702773                                                       Tulsa, OK  74170-2773
918-622-8486

James Perry enjoys tinkering with things.  

“I have a big shop our behind my house,” Perry said. “We can build anything out of wood or metal that you could conceive of.” 

That shop is also where he recently completed a restoration of a 1962 Ford Falcon – taking it down to the frame and restoring it with all original parts. The project took him five years. 

“I spent three years on eBay.com buying the original parts,” he said. 

Perry is a native of Oklahoma City and went to work as a technician for Overhead Door after graduating from Putnam City High School in the late 1960s. He went to school and “ran in the same circles” with the daughter of Louis J. Hill, owner of A-Independent Safe & Lock. Perry was filling up at a local gas station when Hill pulled in and asked him to try locksmithing.  

“He asked me to come by and try it for a few days,” Perry said. “I did and never went back to Overhead Door.” 

Perry said that he thought locksmithing was the best thing he had ever fallen into. He said that it was an adventure – picking locks and being able to get in things that were locked. He enjoyed the mystery so much that he's made it life's work.  

“I'd been with A-Independent for three or four weeks when I told him (Hill) that I would have my own business in three to four years,” Perry said.  

He was right. Perry worked for Hill for three-and-a-half years before opening his own shop – Lakeside Safe & Lock – at 7704 N. May Avenue in Oklahoma City in 1972Ten years later, he purchased his current shop at 7727 N. May Avenue.

Perry was able to open his own business thanks to a family friend in the restaurant business who provided the necessary financing. The financier was in the restaurant business, and Perry says that because of that association, Lakeside's clients have always leaned toward commercial.  

“Restaurants have always been something that we were doing something in,” he said. “Managers would leave a location and refer us to their new employer. It's just grown from there.” 

Another facet of Lakeside's success has been the people Perry's employed.  

“We've trained all of our guys ourselves to do the job right the first time,” he said. “If we can't make it right, we replace it rather than trying to do something that isn't going to work. Our work proves who we are.”

 Perry has been involved with the State Advisory Alarm & Locksmith Advisory Board since licensing locksmiths became a requirement in 2007. He said he has never been involved in any type of politics or government until then, but felt that he needed to stay abreast of what was happening. 

“Licensing doesn't stop fraud,” Perry said. “It doesn't matter what industry you're in. The harder you make it for people to get involved, the less involvement there's going to be.” 

He said he has made it his mission to bring a voice to the locksmithing industry, and he certainly doesn't mince words in doing so. Perry is staunchly opposed to state-mandated continuing education, stating that he believes it's the locksmith's right to pick and choose what education opportunities he or she participates in.  

Perry would also like to see a level playing field in the industry 

“If Lowe's, Home Depot and Ace Hardware are going to do the same jobs that we do, then they need to go through the same licensing process as we do,” he said. “If we can't make it level, then we need to get rid of the licensing.”

James Perry, founder and owner, Lakeside Safe & Lock, in his Oklahoma City shop

Perry enjoys tinkering with anything made of wood or metal, and completely restored this 1962 Ford Falcon to its original state. The project took him five years to complete.