Security at Sports Pools
 

In today’s online news is an article concerning an arrest made of a man who was caught on camera on two recent dates stealing from the locker room and a table on the pool deck. This is not the first time such thefts have occurred and not only from the Colony Cottage Pool. It may be the first time the thief was caught.

Nobody should leave anything of value in a pool locker room. The only alternative is to bring keys and ID, presumably in some sort of bag, and leave it on the deck while swimming, playing volleyball, water aerobics, etc. There is no way to even lock up your keys. Anyone can walk around the pool deck, help themselves, and get away quickly while people are enjoying the pool.

I’ve called John Rohan’s office asking that lockers of some kind, even just for keys, be installed at sports pools. The number is 352-674-1800.

If you use sports pools, please join me. Make the call.In one of the cases mentioned, the thief stole keys and opened the car where the person’s wallet was and took cash. He could have stolen the car!

Was that the 40 year old living with his parents?

:ohdear: Sounds like the 40 year old that lives with his parents in the $465,000 house on Bonifay Golf Course. You would think the parents would have smartened up the first time. Wonder how safe the neighbors feel. :shrug:

Don't know if you have seen this, but it might be a viable alternative: FlexSafe: Anti-Theft Portable Safe and Beach Chair Vault. Packable & Slash Resistant to leaving your keys/wallet unsecured.

That would be fine it one was permitted to bring beach chairs into sports pools or are you being facetious?

Update: I just returned from Colony pool. Coincidentally, I met the man whose keys were stolen. He had nothing in the dressing room. All he had was his keys which he put in his shorts pocket. He placed his shorts on the table on the deck beside the pool. When he went to leave, his keys were no longer in his pocket.

The thief used his keys to access his wallet from his car, took the cash, and threw the keys and wallet (which the victim had hidden on the passenger side floor) on the drivers seat.

I called the Recreation Department earlier requesting some system be installed to safeguard at least keys. They asked me if I wanted the Colony Cottage manager to call me back. I said no—this is a sports pool problem—not a Colony Cottage problem, it needs to be escalated. Well, guess who called me back? The manager from Colony Cottage! She wants to know what questions I have! Questions??

We’re playing phone tag. I will update.

Why wouldn't you just wear your key/s?(around your wrist, around your neck, or pinned to your bathing suit?) Or if they are fancy keys not made for water, leave them with the volunteer at the front desk) and lock anything else of value in your car? Think of all of the accessories in all of the rec centers that never get stolen around here. I think this guy has been caught and that's good. I don't look for a crime spree, do you? Besides installing lockers in ALL of the regional rec centers, I bet someone can figure something else out. We have lived here for eleven years and never had anything stolen at the pools here.

:confused: Who do you think is in charge of the Colony Cottage Sports Pool? How about the Manager from Colony Cottage Rec.! I'm sure they have a procedure to follow. I'm sure they also have a "Chain of Command" to follow.

My question would be..... are you looking for an argument or a solution? Follow the procedure (don't change it) and hopefully you can get something done. Good luck. :ho:

"He went back to the Colony sports pool on the afternoon of Jan. 27 and stole a 71-year-old man’s backpack, containing his wallet, credit cards, driver’s license, clothing, car keys and jacket, all valued at $1,066. That day he also stole a woman’s navy blue bag containing a bracelet and a vehicle key fob. Those items were valued at $375."
You leave a backpack with over $1k of stuff in it on a table at a pool, or a bag containing a valuable bracelet? SMH.

Whenever I swim laps at one of the sports pools I bring all my important stuff with me to the pool in a back pack and leave it right next to the pool at the end of the lane I am swimming in. If someone has the nerve to go into the pool area and go right to the edge of the pool (without a bathing suit on) and grab my back pack, God help them if I catch them. The only thing I leave in the men's changing area is my clothes, so if you see an old man driving in a golf cart with nothing on but a bathing suit, you know it is me and someone stole my clothes from the changing area.

There's also the District Gov incident form.

How about a picket line in front of mom and dad's house tell they toss him

All they need is an employee there to scan cards as you enter

If this guy was living with his parents, he already has an ID card.

This is getting to be a real problem. Wonder if TV would put a wall of safes in the locker rooms. They do this at radiology at UF. You lock your stuff up. The key is on a bracelet that you wear.

:coolsmiley: I'm in!

If you send an e-mail to John Rohan it will be returned. I contacted him about a year and a half ago about getting swim flags for backstrokers in all the sports pools. It took almost a year, but he followed through and it happened. He is a very nice and reasonable guy. Some kind of safe in the changing areas (they are not locker rooms since they don't have any lockers, just hooks to hang clothes from) would be great for small valuables such as keys, wallets, ID's, cell phones, etc... would be great. Leaving valuables in ones car as mentioned by others would not be an option for the many swimmers that travel via golf cart. Also, as a lap swimmer, I don't want to swim 100+ laps with a key attached to my body. All I swim with is a bathing suit and a pair of polarized swim goggles.

Whenever I've gone to the pool...I've not taken any valuables with me or anything that could be lost or stolen. It's only what I have on and a towel. IF I were to drive the car I'd make sure nothing was left in it. What would I do with the keys? I'd make sure they were where I had my eye on them at all times. Whenever I've been at any pool....I've been aware whose there plus who might come through on the deck. They'd have to be pretty quick to get away with anything. That said though...I'm not a lap swimmer so it would be tougher in that event.

The thief though might have dressed accordingly to the pool as it did say he changed clothes each time. Maybe shorts/shirt when he was in the changing room and later maybe he had on a swim suit. Sounds like he was trying to be "crafty" according to that article.

Who leaves valuables worth over $1000 in his car? This is 2019, not 1950... you have to be living in some kinda of stupor to leave that kind of money on your car... even in The Villages...I don't support thieves, never have. But common sense is a lost skill.

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So you lose the key to the locker, now how do you get your stuff. More cost, more people, more maintenance. Do not know what the answer would be but pretty sure lockers are not a very good answer.

America in 2019: Blame the Victim for they clearly must have asked for it or done something that forced the poor unsuspecting criminal into breaking the law.

Oakley sunglasses: $300
iPad: $700
Cell Phone: $600

It doesn't take much in today's world to have over $1000 worth of stuff in your car. Who are we to judge what someone leaves in their car. Most of us would think a locked car should be a pretty safe place, particularly if the valuables are out of view. Imagine the stupid homeowner who thought they could leave thousands of $'s of stuff in their locked home and go to the pool!!!

Reading both of your posts reminds me of an article I read recently that stated one of the highest incidences of car break-ins and theft are in parking lots outside of gyms/pools. Sorry I don't remember where I read it to link it (may have been from an insurance company magazine), but thieves know it is easy pickin's because people often lock up their valuables in their cars thinking they will be safe there. Obviously the article was suggesting not to do that.

I disagree. Lockers have been used in gyms ever since gyms came on the scene. I've used them since the '80s in several cities. They work. You lose the key, mgt. has a master. Or you bring your own padlock with a code and you don't even have to worry about having a key. Somemone with an implement strong enough to cut a padlock is surely going to be noticed.

The FlexSafe is not on a chair — it can be attached to almost any solid object. It is well worth the price for peace of mind, if nothing else.

FlexSafe by AquaVault, Portable Nylon Outdoor Vault, Flexible and Water Resist.. 609408295232 | eBay

They are available new on Ebay for as low as $49.

At the YMCA I swim in up North they have lockers where you bring your own lock. I always bring my own combination lock so I never have to worry about a key. However, it got to the point where I can no longer read the combination dial without cheaters, so I found this really cool lock where you can program a sequence of moving a slider up, down, and side to side to open the lock. You don't even have to look to open it. Works great.

I think that getting lockers in all of the sports pools is unnecessary and expensive.

Strictly a matter of opinion. I think they would be well-used, and a welcome addition.

OP here. Cfrance, you are always the voice of reason. It could even be a wall of small safes, maybe the size of a post office box, where keys could be locked with, perhaps, a combination like in hotel rooms.

The key is the only thing of value one can’t avoid taking into the pool.

This thread was never intended to discuss bringing valuables into the dressing room or pool. That’s just stupid.

The manager at Colony Cottage was lovely and understanding of the dilemma. The issue, as I tried to explain, is beyond her scope since it is a problem at all sports pools. Mr. Rohan returned my call but I was unavailable and missed him.TV Recreation has been very responsive and I’m grateful for that.

Thank you all for your insightful comments.

Thank you for pursuing the flags! They really are a valuable addition for lap swimmers.

Nope not being facetious. Is there a reason that it would not work on the lounges or chairs at the pool? This is also not the only device, merely a suggestion. Perhaps a little further research might find a device that would be ideal for the particular person.