[Bonanza]

Originally Posted by redwitch

There is definitely one known instance where the cameras caught the thieves. This was a few years ago -- a snowbird's home was emptied of all of its contents in, I believe, Sunset Pointe. A camera caught a truck entering the village with empty back. It left filled to the brims. Apparently, it was very easy for the sheriff to track down the thieves and recover almost all items.

As to the "keystone cops," I will admit that I'm not a fan of Neighborhood Watch. It seems they rarely do what we think of as their job -- patrolling neighborhoods, noticing things out of the ordinary, telling folks their garage door is open after 10:00 pm, but I imagine they are a minor deterrent for criminals.

As to the gates, I would prefer they stay since they do help slow down traffic and at least give golf carts a chance to cross streets. Also, I love the gate keepers. More than once I've stopped and gotten directions from them, especially in new areas. I almost always have a map on me but I seem to forget my glasses more often than not.

I've lived here over eight years and travel from one end of TV to the other weekly. This has been the case since my first six months here. There has never been a year where I didn't hear of a burglary or some other felonious crime (I'm not counting DUIs, etc.). It seems as if more of these types of crimes occur during the winter months.

The cops will either catch these thieves or they'll move on to another venue. Depends how professional they are. The smart ones only hit an area for a certain amount of time and then go on to a new area.

TV is not perfect but it is very, very good.

Redwitch . . . Some of your points are well taken. The truck you mention is an obvious case in point, but the reason it stood out was because it was a truck. With hundreds of cars in and out of gates, particularly in season, I think it would be impossible to identify a specific car as the culpret regarding a break-in.

Yes, the guards are nice. However, since the streets are all public, that means that anyone can come and go as they please -- residents and non-residents alike. I don't know the actual cost per annum, but between salaries and gate related costs it has to be well over a million. I just feel that coverage by off-duty cops would be a better way to spend that money to get better results.

That's just my opinion and I realize that nothing is going to change because of it!