[Mpappie]

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

[EdFNJ]

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.

[CWGUY]

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.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Mpappie

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

Have you been on a visit?

[Mpappie]

Thank you

[Mpappie]

thank you

[Mpappie]

no, not yet

[Bjeanj]

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.

[Kim Fowler]

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.

[ldovermiller]

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

[Lblueocala]

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

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by ldovermiller

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

I disagree with all of the above.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

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

[davem4616]

Originally Posted by ldovermiller

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

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.

[sherri2305]

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!