Home Security Systems
 

I am not trying to be negative just getting data from Long Time Residents of our Villages.

This never crossed my mind until two years ago while teaching a Adult Education Class.

When I mentioned my retirement dreams of TV a young Man who used to work for builders in The Villages said " Mr, Forward. I like you Man , You better get your pistol permit and a large Dog and a security system. Welcome to Florida

I said why? Were in a patrolled gated comunity! He explained about the thiefs that stalk the wealth and easy pickings of TV residents.

How easy it is to break into a homes back Lani glass sliders. Peep into windows and see computers jewlery and other items laying out on shelves bedroom dressers etc. He said you just may get a visitor in daylight while your watching TV. And you never know who is wandering around in a uniform pretending to be a lawn guy or pest control person or other?

So all you wise ones! I have my Sinkhole coverage. My Wind and Hurricane Insurance, Total home Flood taken care of- So what are your respected thoughts to this? Are there Home systems that work? Any advise.

And please! No you worry to much Herv responses. I am looking as the Police do- Just the facts please no It's all wonderful hype. Crime is everywhere some places worse than others?

Herv

I do not believe that security is an issue in TV. That's one of the main reason's to move here. Maybe your friend was referring to other parts of Florida.

Traps recommended for those down spout snatching wild dogs. :icon_wink:

There are lots of people who carry guns here. They carried guns back home and they are big on that part of the Constitution. I don't think it is necessary is a huge understatement.

Because we are retired, and we do NOT work but move about the community, we are 80,000 eyes and ears watching out for each other. We really don't need guns.

Now this is where the fight begins.

Someone who is good with statistics please post the crime statistics here...which is hard because we are part of a county and Wildwood takes us down a bit. Hawkwind? You are the man...or Bill? Put down your popcorn.

Eyes and Ears
 

I would think neighborhood watch is the best defense. I know when I was looking at homes this July Ruth and I were pulled over at 8.30 in our cart driving thru the model home division.

We explained we were Village Prolerty land owners and w were looking at models before we left the following morning. We were treated like the criminals we were suppose to be. However guess the officer was just doing his job. Were told to get going and get to bed. HA!

For a couple that dirves 75 miles a day in all weather to go to work being scolded by a very young and VERY overweight sheriff for being to far from our property in a cart our late at 8.30 was a weird feeling.

At least we were checked out that was a positive.

A lot of us are young and overweight. And Car? You are just kidding about the "treated like a criminal" aren't you? When we were caught entering the unlocked model in our neighborhood, the Villages Watch-er was very polite to us and locked up after us.

Gracie....... :popcorn: Ha-ha!! I don't have any type of statistics for you - sorry!

Herv, I feel the home security system is going to be another one of those things that falls into the "personal preference" category - if it makes you feel better and sleep well at night, then it's probably a worthwhile thing for you to do. Everyone will obviously have their own perspective on and approach to home security.

Personally, the crime rate in TV is lower than in other areas of FL and other parts of the country as well. We just do the normal stuff - deadbolts on the doors, turn off the garage door receiver when we're away (so the remote chance of a stray signal opening the door is eliminated), stop stick in the sliding door track, and make sure all the windows are locked. That's about it for us!

Bill :)

Bill....what's your address again ??? :loco:

Oh....and I forgot - - - I have the front door knob hooked up to 220V when we're away as well.. Come on over, my friend - help yourself!! :1rotfl:

Bill :wave:

I would not count on them. We see them once or twice a day AT MOST in our neighborhood. That said, I don't think you need an alarm system. First of all, we had one in NM (lived in a very isolated area) and we had more problems with the system going off and breaking down then it was worth. Your best non lethal defense is a dog. A dog who will bark at people coming on the property. My 12 pound mini dauchshund sounds like a 100 pound shephard ( I know...I have had 100 pound shepherds). Thieves will take the course of least resisitance. The houses here are pretty close together and open to view at all times. BTW-was the comment about the sheriff being overweight necessary? Did that have some meaning to you? Just curious....

Secruity
 

We will be getting an alarm system just be be extra safe. I believe that if you have taken every measure to protect yourself and someone invades your privacy then you can't say "I shoulda". But if you don't cover all of your bases, it's too late to do it afterwards. No woulda, shoulda, coulda's for us! Just my personal opinion. I do believe that TV is very safe!

Hey neighbor! I think if there's a Psychologist that reads this forum he'll be sending you a Christmas card and want to see you at least twice a week for a while.

We had a a monitored alarm system in our home prior to moving to The Villages. The only time it was activated was when I set it off by accident. The alarm company called me twenty minutes later to see if I had been murdered in my bed. Don't feel it is needed here. We keep doors and windows locked. We keep nothing in our home worth stealing.

However, peace of mind can be an important factor in the decision. Like someone has already stated, it is a personal thing.

When I lived up north I lived in a neighborhood where B&E’s were not a concern. Then I became a victim then I said that can never happen again but it did. After I got robbed a second time I sat down with the police and discussed the best and most effective design for a burglar alarm system. I then implemented the design. When I moved to FL I do not remember which came first cable TV or burglar alarm. Last week for one night, because of a maintenance issue (back up battery) I could not set the alarm which resulted in a restless nights sleep. My alarm includes a day alarm, an alarm sounds in the house if a screen door is opened or a beam across my garage door is broken. I am free to open my house and enjoy the fresh air without fear of a surprise. Break my boundaries, well you know the rest.

The police told me the last thing is an alarm that dials the phone. You need sirens and flashing lights. A monitor service is not money well spent.

It’s just one more insurance.

Did you mean a psychologist? His concerns are not paranoid...they are valid concerns. We each react to them in different ways.

Thank you for letting me correct the spelling. I talk with Herv all the time and it's just a bit of humor. Have a nice Holiday.

You might contact the local police departments and see if they subscribe to a service that lets them send out community announcements. Up north my police department does and they post all the crime (and non crime) activity, sometimes with videos from security cameras, so you have an idea of what problems are in your area. The announcements have helped find the bad guys.

Hi Jim--I did not know you were just a funning him. You have a great Holiday as well. Our first in Florida and we could not be more excited!

Honest
 

Gracie Honest we were almost arrested! If was VERY uncomfortable. It was not neighbor watch those nice people at the gate told us we could go in and take one last peek. We never got out of our cart!

It was a white Sheriff Car and he was not very happy with us. I'm not makeing this up. I had Village Id and a Village Rental Cart and my CYV Rental address and he was thinking we were going to be stealing appliances out of the model homes!

All we were doing was looking at outside doors and the lights. You can call Ruth on this. Her and ole Herv were s----n- bricks. About the second time I hear I'm hear to defend the citizens of this county against criminals I figured Bubba was smelling a Yankee and taking us down.

That said. We have moved on. You have to be in your home locked down doors shut and in Bed by 9.00 oclock or face the wrath of the local sheriff.

He told us " You all get on home now you should not be out this late! " Wow 8:45 curfew- Maybe he was worried about muggers?

Then he followed us until we hit the Car path.

Well Car, You can't have it both ways. I think you look a little suspicious. Not Ruthie, but maybe you could shave your moustache.......Just sayin'.:evil6:

OK Gracie
 

Yes Mom! I'll go shave! Gracie he made her cry. A nice day of just buying a lot and felling pretty good was dashed. And that makes any self respecting man come to fighting words.

Now enough of this off topic and back to the topic of Home security.

I'm liking the idea of motion lights. Without the bills of a monitered system.

What does something like that cost? When we were looking at pre-owned I saw many homes that had a security panel in them.

It was sold as a bonus. And yes I did have a old system in a previous life that everything from the wind, flashing light, the kids Canary or that terrorist called Rosa the Schnauzer set off!

Police were not happy with the false calls so we just turned it off, Now what good was that? Maybe new systems people have are of a modern design?

And Jim- I know you Love me Man! But that will get Pturner going on me again! :laugh:

I'm not sure Herv, but maybe it was the trailer and dolly you were towing with the golf cart...:)

Haaaaaaaa
 

Oh you busted me again Trish! The stolen lawn mower trailer hooked to the cart was a dead give away right?

Alarm, dog and shotgun?
 

The older I get the more I appreciate my alarm. We lockup every night and my labradoodle is large. I'm told that dogs are better then alarms. The only problems have been alarm battery needs replacement every few years and if the power is out for an extended period the low power battery alert wakes you up and scares you to death.

It helps if you are friendly with the neighbors they can be an extended set of eyes and ears. If something looks fishy call the police.

So far I personally, and my two or three friends haven't seen ANYTHING fishy in either of our neighborhoods, but people walking dogs. In our house in Hadley we backed to the Odell rec center where anyone could park their car in the rec center, break our back windows and make off with any of our second hand furniture or our pretty new furniture or our plants or my costume jewelry or my clothing or Sweeties golf shirts in the time that we were snowbirding up North. HOWEVER our neighbors watched and stopped any breakins about to happen, in fact they didn't see any.

After reading a bunch of stuff on this forum, and all but a couple of instances* turned out to be rumors, we had some wiring in the back for motion activated lights and they came on when the wind blew the trees and were very helpful when we returned from potlucks at the rec center. It cost us a couple of hundred dollars to do that

I have seen canons and canon balls in some of the front yards in the historic part.

* In the very few robberies that have happened, the police have a very good record of catching the culprits.
In fact the cop who caught 'em may be the very chubby, grumpy one that made Car's wife Ruthie cry.

Herv - Were there signs posted re: no traffic allowed, etc. at the entrance to the area? They get pretty picky about that, especially "after hours" in the construction areas.

Bill :)

Thanks Bill
 

We learned our lesson the hard way.

I am sorry for the people that lost their property. Terrible at Christmas Time.

Locking the doors behind us is the best advise.

Jim's your Cat should do the trick. It is like 150 lbs right? Don't your think the Zoo will miss it?

I was thinking of a Security Guard Alligator!

You'll be o.k. Car. Just don't shave the moustache.

Scary.

Wasn't really necessary since most of them are.

We had a Time Warner Security system installed in our home for my father before he died and we kept it when we moved in. We never had any problems, but my parents had two breakings going back a number of years ago pre alarm. We found that we rarely activated the alarm while we were home and only did so when leaving the house for an extended period of time... like when we came down to close on our TV home.

My wife just yesterday asked if I think we should get a system (probably with reading this thread) and... well... I'm not gonna tell anyone what we decided! LoL

Also someone mentioned that they see Neighbor Watch only a few times a day. I've seen them go by more frequently than that. Just this morning I saw one go buy and within seconds saw another go buy. That made me feel guilty without doing anything wrong for a minute, but then I figured that it was just Fumar sending them to check and see if we had three dogs! :doggie::doggie::doggie: :laugh:

You got to love neighborhood watch. Back in 1975 up north, I was out in my front yard and the guy across the street walked over and told me someone had been in my vehicle about four hours before. I reciprocated by never telling him his wife had male visitors when he was out of town.

Funny
 

Good one!

May we know the brand and model of alarm you use please? There is nothing like learning from someone trusts their system.

I got a dog....
 

to guard my house. It was a little more than I thought I should pay but I think when word gets out we'll be a relatively crime free neighborhood.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...4595BuzzPC.jpg

I can not give you exactly what you are looking for because…..
I took the information I acquired from the police and designed my first system up north, when I moved to FL I was so pleased with my first creation I more or less used the same components I had good luck with up north. Understand this is my design and I installed it so I do not have a person to refer you to now the bad news all my components were purchased at Radio Shack and it is all hard wired thru the attic today I do not think Radio Shack sells any thing for alarms.

About two years ago a friend of mine was robbed and asked for my advice that is when I discovered alarms are for the most part wireless these days. What is hard wired then and I think now is from the key pad just inside the front door (I also have one in the bedroom) that shares a wall with a closet and in the closet is junction box that you wire thur the wall then in the closet run wires to a siren in the overhang behind the holey stuff and to a strobe light visible in a peak or overhang. He does not have any beams but I think they are hard wired also. Motion detectors, door & window switches, glass brakeage device are wireless and battery operated.

I will give you a web sight where you can buy hardware and a handy man that installs phone stuff and cable stuff could install it.

This is not the web we used, the one we used is not responding so this one is just a place to start looking check out Amazon also.

http://www.alarmsystemstore.com/DSC-...kages-s/10.htm

Comcast
 

Does Comcast do whole home systems like Time Warner? Maybe as part of a TV Net package?

Being able to turn on lights etc remote from your phone is pretty cool.

H

Yes, but it's not yet available at zip code 32162. You can enter your email address, via "Check Availability" at the following address to find out when it will become available! http://www.comcast.com/homesecurity/.

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

We have an alarm system. The Villages is a "gated community" but all you have to do to get into the gates is push the button. Also, we live about 4 blocks from where the murder happened a couple of years ago, and for a while we were all advised to stay in our homes because the bad guys were out there. Also, I'm married to a former crime prevention officer and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of .....

NOT FUNNY Quriky!!!
The canine sniper was not properly trained. You'll notice that it's paw is not on the trigger ready to shoot! http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3.../EmoteLOL2.gif