[Frangyomory]

Just for edification: I don't want to scare anyone away from the Villages because it is a wonderful place to live. But, we recently had the Sumter County Sheriff come to our Tall Trees Ladies Club meeting to discuss neighborhood watch due to the break-ins...which happened a few months back in Tall Trees on a Sunday while folks were at church. The homes were very near a main entrance and exit from Tall Trees.

He advised us that while the Villages is a "reasonably" secure environment, it is NOT a gated community. It is a semi-gated community. We only have guards at the older locations. Card pass gates at other village locations and we cannot deny access to anyone as these are county roads. Yes, we have security cameras at every entrance location but cameras only help solve the crime, not prevent it.

We are attempting to start a neighborhood watch but without the assistance of the developer. They want us to pay to rent a meeting room to have all Tall Trees residents attend a meeting to develop such a program. One more time when money talks even though this would be for the GOOD of the community, they want our ladies club to pay to rent a meeting room. Right now, we are thinking about having a meeting at the pool which would not cost us anything.

While I feel reasonably secure here in our courtyard villa, our windows and all doors are always locked even when we are home. We are also fortunate to be on a corner with a street light at the end of or driveway. It is not wise to leave a window open with the screen down unless you are actually in the room or have a dog. I tease my husband about not breathing fresh air much, but actually it is a safeguard against someone cutting a screen. We also have 2X4's cut to fit our sliding glass doors so that they cannot be forced open.

I have friends who have special lights on motion detectors and they seem to work fine. Some people have installed ADT.

Cops told us that the only real security is neighbor watching out for neighbor and paying attention to what is going on in your neighborhood. They told us if it looks suspicious, call 911; if you hear strange noise in the night, call 911. All simple logic.

They did say however, that almost all the crime in the area comes from outside the Villages. My only concern is when they finish development around Brownwood and people who live in Wildwood (a higher crime area) will have access to the downtown and surroundings.

I love it here and as I said, I feel secure but I make sure I close the garage door behind me and keep windows and doors locked. That is the best way to safeguard your home.