[memason]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

What some of you have done is to make people who do not yet live here feel that there is an elevated danger in doing so. I have a new friend who I cherish very much who reads this forum and I imagine that she is wondering what she has done putting a deposit down on some crummy crime infested place.

When the reality is that this lovely place is one of the most serene places in the world to live and that the fact that we are all wiser and older and not doing anything else other than moving about here and watching things and each other makes it even safer.

You can arm yourself with a cannon if you can carry it because it is part of your constititutional rights and some of you will even if you lived in a stockade with a platoon of people protecting you because you feel the way you do, but please remember that there are real people who are getting a really bad and wrong impression about the safety of this area reading this forum. These real people who may be single, and may want the happiness we have chosen for ourselves will decide not to come here and see how comfortably safe this place is.

The Community Watch drives around the neighborhood and watches, because I get up for my night feeding and I look out the windows and I see them in their white cars driving slowly by.

As I eat my cookies and milk I watch too. There isn't anything or anybody out there hardly even a car.

Now I am thinking that many of you are posting these things about locks on your bedroom door and carrying guns because you care and feel protective of others, but some of you may have not really assessed the level of danger or safety here accurately.

Taylor, get a security system. You know the one I chose because I sent you a PM. Even if the reason that you should do so is to protect yourself from armed, angry and drunken neighbors who have gotten themselves all mad because they got scratched by your knock out roses yesterday and they are gonna get you back.

I would also like to point out that the graph that was removed included the areas outside of TV. It is hard to find a graph that includes just The Villages because we are part of three counties.

Deep breaths and common sense. Thank you grandmother, I am listening.

Gracie.... You are my hero! Well said....

I would be interested in knowing how many of the posters on TOTV actually LIVE [full or part-time] in TV??? I find it hard to believe that anyone living in TV would find it necessary to have security systems or weapons to protect themselves.

Are some of these threads started just to stir controversy ??

Don't know... just thinking.

[GeorgeT]

Originally Posted by memason

Gracie.... You are my hero! Well said....

I would be interested in knowing how many of the posters on TOTV actually LIVE [full or part-time] in TV??? I find it hard to believe that anyone living in TV would find it necessary to have security systems or weapons to protect themselves.

Are some of these threads started just to stir controversy ??

Don't know... just thinking.

I agree 100%. I also wonder why a thread like this was started and it should be completely deleted forever.

The Villages is the safest place I have ever lived and I spent 25 years in VT.

I am also sorry that I got caught up in this ridiculous thread.

Thank you Gracie for the voice of reason.

George.

[katezbox]

Originally Posted by GeorgeT

I agree 100%. I also wonder why a thread like this was started and it should be completely deleted forever.

The Villages is the safest place I have ever lived and I spent 25 years in VT.

I am also sorry that I got caught up in this ridiculous thread.

Thank you Gracie for the voice of reason.

George.

Gracie is absolutely the voice of reason.

And to give TH a free pass as the starter of this - it is his job on a forum to be provocative.

Is there a phrase in our language more likely to cause fear than "home invasion"? I lived in Connecticut during the time the Pettit family members were killed. My next door neighbors knew them. They had been stalked. They left their door unlocked.

I have also been a victim of a robbery while I was at home. I was 18. IMO most middle class home break ins are a random crime. Thieves - usually looking for drug money - look for the easiest target. It is hard to protect yourself against random.

I think TV may be the safest place I have ever lived.

[Talk Host]

Interesting that those who desire a more certain level of safety and security are labeled "ridiculous" or "stirring controversy." Yet no negative labeling or criticism has been leveled at those who feel that The Villages is an impregnable safe haven.

[Talk Host]

Originally Posted by katezbox

Gracie is absolutely the voice of reason.

And to give TH a free pass as the starter of this - it is his job on a forum to be provocative.

It is my job to be "objective." Because I think it is imprudent to dissuade people from considering a home alarm system, does not make me "provocative."

I agree that The Villages is probably the safest place I have ever lived. I am also realistic enough to know that it is not totally shielded from the outside world. That's why everybody locks their doors at night. An alarm system is an extra layer of safety. Don't criticize those of us who want that!

My position is, if you want an alarm, have one. If you don't want one, don't have one. But, don't label those of us who feel safer with one as being, "provocative" "controversial" or "ridiculous." Those terms are used only when there is no sound argument against an issue. And don't tell people that there is "no chance" of a home invasion in the Villages, it's not true.

JLK

[dillywho]

Originally Posted by Tbugs

Double-taps, triple-taps, silvertips, triple-tap rocker? Someone been reading too many Tom Clancy book?

As I have stated on here a few times already, the guns in the home are totally unnecessary. Statistics show that family members are more likely to be killed or maimed by guns in the home than are intruders.

Remember, last time you handled a gun in an emergency was probably 15-45 years ago. The bad guy that you find in your house is probably in his 20's and is a lot stronger and quicker than you are now. Your gun, if you have made it that far, will probably be turned against you.

Also, remember, The Villages is probably the safest place you have ever lived and there is basically no crime at all. Guns are not necessary here.

One purpose of an alarm system is to keep them from getting in in the first place. Are they going to come on in when the thing goes off the minute they open/breakin a door or window? As to no crime at all here, tell that to our neighbors that were broken into a couple of years ago.

Alarms aside, a little common sense goes a long way. One of the ones that was broken into was leaving town and put his trash out on Friday for Monday pickup. That, folks, is an open invitation as he found out the hard way. (BTW, he doesn't do that anymore.) Have a neighbor put it out for you the night before pickup. That's what we all do here now. My neighbors and I even share. When someone is gone for several pickups, someone else puts one of their trash bags in their driveway the night before pickup.

[memason]

Originally Posted by Talk Host

It is my job to be "objective." Because I think it is imprudent to dissuade people from considering a home alarm system, does not make me "provocative."

I agree that The Villages is probably the safest place I have ever lived. I am also realistic enough to know that it is not totally shielded from the outside world. That's why everybody locks their doors at night. An alarm system is an extra layer of safety. Don't criticize those of us who want that!

My position is, if you want an alarm, have one. If you don't want one, don't have one. But, don't label those of us who feel safer with one as being, "provocative" "controversial" or "ridiculous." Those terms are used only when there is no sound argument against an issue. And don't tell people that there is "no chance" of a home invasion in the Villages, it's not true.

JLK

I believe Katzbox has is exactly right... You start these types of threads knowing the responses you are going to get. Everyone has an "opinion" on such topics.

Unlike you, the rest of us do not profit from readership and are not selling advertising based on number of views per month. Nor are any of us selling a book, generated form the posts of people on this forum.

Just saying... Lets keep it real here.

[Talk Host]

Originally Posted by memason

I believe Katzbox has is exactly right... You start these types of threads knowing the responses you are going to get. Everyone has an "opinion" on such topics.

Unlike you, the rest of us do not profit from readership and are not selling advertising based on number of views per month. Nor are any of us selling a book, generated form the posts of people on this forum.

Just saying... Lets keep it real here.

All forms of media, radio, television, newspapers, and discussion forums try to generate topics that will be of interest to their readers, viewers or listeners. Are you suggesting that I should not start interesting threads. Are we being demonized for trying to be successful? There is a huge gulf between interesting topics and trying to provoke people.

I wish all of our members would post threads everyday that would generate 2,000+ views in 24 hours.

I find it interesting that this topic has gone from an interesting question about the relative safety of The Villages to an indictment of my motives for daring to ask the question.

I wonder why the Sheriff's department has "crimes against seniors" division.

JLK

[rjm1cc]

Go to http://www.nixle.com/

You can sign up for crime notices if the local policy department is a member. This may help answer your question.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

Go to http://www.nixle.com/

You can sign up for crime notices if the local policy department is a member. This may help answer your question.

The answers to your question about how safe The Villages are is right here on this forum. We have the most reporters any news media could ever ask for.

We can get three hundred posts about some man who bumbled into the ladies shower room at the sports pool.

We can discuss guns until we want to shoot ourselves.

We can uplift and tear apart landscapers and we can try to make sense out of all of it.

Some of us are reasonable people and probably always have been and some of us.....are a little...silly BUT Boy Howdy...we know when something went wrong here and in about five minutes somebody tells somebody who posts it RIGHT HERE.

TalkHost.. the power you have over us with this irreplaceable news medium is frightening!!!!

[manaboutown]

I did an internet search. Trulia provided this data for Sumter County. http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Th...ommunity-info/

It looks like property crime is about 18% greater and violent crime more than twice as common in Sumter County than for Florida as a whole.

[bkcunningham1]

manabouttown, I own a home in TV. According to the source you provided, our community is far below the state and county averages for violent and property crimes.

http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/32159-Lady_Lake/

[bkcunningham1]

Sumter County, FL, is a very big county. There are five incorporated cities inside Sumter County. None are in the boundaries of TV. There are 11 unincorporated towns, including TV in Sumter County. When you use Sumter County stats, it really doesn't reflect TV inclusively.

[manaboutown]

BK, I just checked your link. It shows statistics for Lady Lake and for Lake County. TV lies in three counties. It may be difficult to find accurate statistics for TV as a community unto itself. My personal presumption is that it is likely much safer within TV than it is within the remainder of the counties because of TV's checkpoint gates, citizen patrols and a high overall awareness and watchfulness of Villagers.

[villages07]

Like Gracie, I'm concerned that "future" Villages residents who read this thread might get a distorted impression of criminal acts and safety here. We are a community of 40,000+ homes and 80,000+ people. Random acts of violent crime (not those perpetrated by persons who know each other) are minimal and property crimes, specifically, burglary are miniscule in number compared to the size of the community. As others have said, this is the safest community I have lived in. But bad stuff can and will happen.

So, if an alarm system makes one feel more secure then have at it.

Sorry TalkHost, I've got to agree with katez and Memason...the thread topic and initial tone seemed to be intended to provoke fear and controversy. That was my perception...not saying it was or wasn't the intent but that's how it sounded to me.