Who do you call?
 

Hi there, we hope to move down there this year. Do the villages have their own Police Dept.?

No, the Sumter County Sheriff/police or Lady Lake police or likely Marion County police (depending on where in TV you live) have offices around the Villages in their respective counties. "911" will get you to the right place as well.

Actually - Lake Co. Sheriff , Sumter Co. Sheriff, Marion Co. Sheriff, Lady lake P.D.. Wildwood P.D. and Fruitland Park P.D. all have a presence in The Villages. All have offices here as well. :)

Have you been on a visit?

Thank you

thank you

no, not yet

That seems like an odd first question. THAT is your first concern? I hate to suggest it, but are you scoping out the place, or come from somewhere with a high crime rate? Lots of people wonder about shopping availability, activities, are the folks friendly, etc etc. I think emergency response time is pretty good, but couldn’t tell you the specific time.

In addition, we have Community Watch, which is a service of The Villages’ community development districts. Community Watch officers patrol 24/7. They do not have law enforcement powers but serve as a deterrent and are helpful. The Villages also has a fire department with EMTs, and there are local ambulance services. Altogether, I think our public safety services are more than sufficient and comparable to those in my small hometown in Illinois.

If you want to feel safe, don't count on Community Watch, they do patrol the community at high speeds, do NO due diligence in looking for problems, eyes ahead or on the phone...more concerned with coffee breaks. The Sumter sheriff DOES NOT give speeding tickets, just warnings!! I and others do not feel safe. They give a false picture of safety.

for

You call 911 for police, fire, medical just like every other town, city, county in the USA

I disagree with all of the above.

People not feeling safe , if not here where ???

I disagree with the above statement

The Villages is one of the safest places to live anywhere in the USA. Very little crime, no earthquakes, no raging forest fires, no flooding...you will have the occasional hurricane...but these houses are build to hurricane standards for this part of Florida. Oddly this part of Florida is referred to as 'the lightening capital of the world'....a very, very small number of homes have installed lightening rods...I don't recall hearing of any homes being struck by lightening in the 4 years that we've been here.

There's the occasional ne'er-do-well adult child that moves back in with their aging parents that might cause a little domestic trouble, but that's soon put to rest....other than that, the only slight risk we see is getting hit by some oldster that shouldn't be driving a vehicle anyway (the major roads all have sidewalks...neighborhood roads do not).

We live on a Cul-de-sac...everybody knows one another and we check in on each other's home whenever someone is away (that isn't universal in TV)...in addition, our expanded neighborhood of 60+ homes formed an Emergency AED Response Team...many of us are training in CPR and the use of an AED unit...in the event of a 911 cardiac arrest call made from any of those 60+ homes our responders will automatically be informed and we'll arrive on scene and begin chest compressions in those crucial minutes before the EMT's can get there. There are 227 other AED teams...and another 28 are forming.

When we previously lived in Ft Lauderdale, we often felt that our upscale area was a target....we just don't have that sense in TV.

The Villages cannot be its own city because it crosses 3 county lines, therefore cannot have its own Police Dept. Each county’s Sherrif Dept supports the associated areas. Emergency response is very good in TV!

Others on here have told you we have deputies and offices from all the 3 counties encompassing TV's, nearly instant ambulance and fire near every village. But take comments about Villages Watch people "with a grain of salt" as they say. Been here since 2004 and believe me I have NEVER seen a V Watch truck going more than a "snails pace".

You can not leave your garage door up or partially up without getting a call NO MATTER what the time, you'll get a call at 2 a.m.. If you are simply still up then, you can just tell them you know it is up. Same if a sprinkler system pipe is broken by one of the lawn services and spouting water, (not uncommon sadly), they will call you no matter where you are. Not all, but many are retired military, or were associated with law enforcement. Realize that they also have the unfortunate job of informing people who violate the covenants with bird bathes, giant artificial flowers in the front yard, etc. This makes people angry and they tend to write negative things about those who patrol. Recently a neighbor was on vacation, their large front window was broken (unusual, but probably a rock from commercial mowers), the village watch noticed the big crack and small hole when neighbors did not, and called the owners immediately. Some people will also write negatives because this past summer there was a rumor going around that a V watch officer was found asleep in his truck, not doing his rounds. This may or may not be true, I do not personally know any of the officers (just wave at them frequently because they are always passing by day or night), so this "sleeping" rumor may not be true but it may have angered people because this is a great cost to the residents; but it also makes the Villages attractive to perspective buyers when comparing retirement areas.

Well said & so true!

Parts of The Villages also are in three different cities or towns. Parts of Lady Lake, Wildwood and Fruitland Park contain parts of The Villages.

I would think that if you live in one of those towns you would call the local police. If not, you would call the county sheriff of whichever county you are in.

Completely agree with the writer above, no place is completely safe we all know, but on the whole fairly safe here and very very little violent crime. The "gates" here are simply an eye-catching illusion, again, attractive to perspective buyers, and often a terrible source of traffic jams during "snowbird" season (traffic can be backed onto 466 just trying to turn into the V's past the high school, can be 20 or more cars going through a "gate" one at a time), so don't take the presence of gates everywhere as any sign of "safety", believe me trucks full of questionable people come rolling in (some with no license tags) all the time by simply pushing a button. But, ultimately, just be aware of these things and know the majority of us here do feel much safer than in most nearby towns and cities. Very few major crimes here. The door to door soliciting is totally out of control, most will tell you that. You might get as many a three people a day banging on your door, no soliciting permit (which technically I don't think they need !), and asking to inspect your roof, mow your lawn, or trim your trees. Over the years this has gone from an occasional annoyance to a daily happening.

The Villages is the safest place I have every lived. The crime is minimal, mostly associated with drug and alcohol problems. I lock my doors but never have seen anything the least bit frightening since I moved here 2007. The sheriff has responded to my neighbor's alarm rapidly and once I called them when she was gone and her garage was wide open. They responded and found it was nothing. Safety is not an issue here, if you do not feel safe, it is your personal problem not a personnel problem.

Will add to those totally disagreeing with you.

Find this area very safe.

Only concerns we have are tornadoes or sinkholes. Not at all common but they do happen here.

I'll also add that BLM & Antifa do not have a presence here either. :a040:

[QUOTE=Pairadocs;1858854The door to door soliciting is totally out of control, most will tell you that. You might get as many a three people a day banging on your door, no soliciting permit (which technically I don't think they need !), and asking to inspect your roof, mow your lawn, or trim your trees. Over the years this has gone from an occasional annoyance to a daily happening.[/QUOTE]

Have not heard of this before. In our area last solicitor was a few months ago someone wanting to inspect our roof and just asked him to leave.

As do I.

It does happen though. My mother owned a house on Gonzales pl off of Chula Vista and the neighbor's house took a big strike and it caught fire. I'm thinking maybe 2013-14. I also know my of my neighbor's took a shot that blew out a bunch of equipment.

Other than that though, the entire area is pretty safe. I'm not exactly sure how you could make it any safer short of adding walls, concertina wire and guards in towers manning beltfeds.

OMG 3 solicitors a day , every day of week, care to share where you live . I must be very lucky 5 different village neighborhoods, not one solicitor

The Villages
 

What people don’t realize, if you have never been here, is The Villages is so Huge that it is in 3 counties, and 5 to 6 cities now. These all have their own
Police or Sheriff’s departments that serve The Villages.

Ohiobuckeye
 

EDFNJ is right, depending what county you’re in, besides the Streets or at least the Main ones are County Rd. But police could be a thing of the pass in a couple of months!

Just wait because:
. . . . . . The Villages where Apartment Buildings are coming near you soon! . . . :police::police: :loco: :police::police:

No you can call Bill Barr directly .

Antifa is about 30 years out for the villages

No. There is a neighborhood watch...people drive around with radios. It is a "controlled access community (guards at external gates and EVERYONE gets their picture taken) and police depends on your location. Wildwood police, lady lake police, sumter cty sherriff and marion cty sherriff..but NO Villages police. Villages fire and rescue. And for a slight fee you may employ Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson, but you DO NOT need them.

Feel very safe and wonderful people who are very helpful in every way

As do I, 100% !!!

I don't think this is part of Community Watch.

From Village Community Development Districts web site.

Concerns about possible deed restriction violations may be provided to the Community Standards Deed Compliance Division by phone, fax, mail, electronic mail, or in person and may be made anonymously. The Community Standards Deed Compliance Division is entirely complaint driven.

:ohdear: WOW! How about 911 no matter which of the 3 Counties you live in? To important of an issue for misinformation ! :boom:

:) 3 Counties and 3 Cities and the emergency number is the same for all of them 911

In the event two newspapers remain uncollected, VW follows up: knocking on door, checking w/neighbors, phoning, etc. They keep an eye on the neighborhoods, reporting anything suspicious. What more can anyone want from a volunteer organization? Good grief! Can't understand the negative comments. I am glad they are here.

omg, you guys cracking me up,....:faint::1rotfl:

You sir don’t have a clue. Should not post things you know nothing about.