[Bogie Shooter]

It is really hard to believe that so many folks have experienced , the walk in guy, girl with paper towels,etc....why in the h--- nobody called the sheriffs department.

[Pat_RI]

I think one of the reasons is the amount of people going door to door trying to sell landscaping, insect control, lightning rods, etc. I know when I was down there for a couple of weeks the amount of soliciting that went on in Pennecamp was out of control. I don't know if it was due to the new home purchase or a regular occurance but it was a real pain.

[graciegirl]

They plague the new villages and they can spot a move in...in a heart beat. When we moved into Hadley the first day, we must have have five or six people selling things on the fiirst day and I think we have two overlapping "bug" people now. I can't figure who does what.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by bkcunningham1

Gracie, what do you mean the posting was a year old? The original post on this thread from nanci2539 was yesterday (4/12/10). What am I missing?

Regardless, I'd call the police about any suspicious activity. I was taught that locks are for honest people. If someone is going to "break-in" they will find a way. I was also taught at an early age to respect and how to use a firearm.

I could have sworn this is one of those post that are revived from time to time by the administrators and I thought I looked for the date and saw an old one. I do apologize. I have now repeated erroneous information to someone else. I told the students this morning that it was an old post.

However...I think that it very well may be repeated information like the game of telephone where the information becomes different when repeated. Those who want to be armed, be armed. I think that anything strange should be reported immediately to authorities..... But for me and my house we walk around inside unlocked...until we go to bed.

[duffysmom]

I'm troubled by the skepticism regarding the possibility of evil visiting our homes. Yes, TV is an amazing and safe place to live but to leave doors unlocked is an invitation to become a victim. In my previous life I was a drug and alcoholism counselor and believe me, drugs will cause people to take incredible risks and change a docile person into an violent criminal. The local newspaper crime blotter will show you that most of the arrests in the surrounding area revolve around drugs and alcohol. This is true of the entire USA. I'm hardly a fearful person having lived in NYC a good part of my life but I know from experience that vigilence is an important factor is being safe. Sorry about this rant but I was a little disconcerted by the attitude that TV is immune to crime. The people who knock on doors with paper towels sound like grifters who take advantage of the elderly. Pure evil and they travel in packs. My avatar is a picture of my pit bull disguised as a maltese so beware.

[Pturner]

I too am surprised about people not calling 911 when strangers came uninvited onto their property-- or even into their homes, if that's true-- and offered bazaar explanations for being there.

If it seems suspect, we should call 911 first, CW second. We help protect ourselves and our neighbors by making law enforcement and neighborhood patrols aware of suspicious activity.

[graciegirl]

Maybe it is our street in Hadley, with people going in and out of their homes all of the time, neighbors chatting in the driveways....and maybe because home invasion is not on my list of fears, like a number of other improbable things are not.

Is it possible? Yes. Probable? No.

You were a drug counselor and I wasn't. I am 70 years old, from the midwest, and not one single person that I have known personally in my entire lifetime has had their home broken into. We have worked hard and have always chosen to live in RELATIVELY safe places.

Could it happen? Yes. Will I lock my doors in the daytime when the three of us are home? No. The cats go in and out to the lanai. I need to run out and see if my flowers need watering, or to say hi to a dog and its owner.

Am I stupid, naive, too innocent? I don't know. I am not afraid of someone entering my home here.

I am really afraid of the country going bankrupt.

[CSilvestrucci]

I agree with you, Gracie

[BlueHeronFan]

Well this thread is interesting, especially for what appeared as a somewhat negative reaction to some comments I made in another thread about the amount of soliciting going on around in TV.

Anywho....Things aren't always as they seem when there are people going through the backyards etc. I have witnessed some, and upon checking here are a few of the results.

Weedpicker is generally one of the services offered from Kirk's lawn service.
Electric meter reader.
Water meter scanners.
Surveyers for neighbors installing after purchase pool systems.

But if they are found in the home, then grab a phone for 911 or something else for protection. Seniors are notorious for being victims of scams and invasions.

But all in all, I think everybody seems to watch out for their neighborhood.

[starflyte1]

I love to keep the sliders (3) and doors open. Radio Shack has a motion activated alarm that is battery operated. I just set it on a table at the door and if anything crosses in front of it, it buzzes. Put it high enough so the dogs don't set it off. It really works well.

[jimt49]

It’s very easy to believe we live in a bubble and are not subject to the ills of the rest of the world. Have there been burglaries and burglars caught in the Villages? Yes, I need look no further than my own neighborhood in Spanish Springs. The excellent job done by our local police departments alone is not enough. We need to take care of ourselves and one another just as we would living anyplace else. We do not need to live in fear, but be aware that there are bad people and things that we are not insulated from. Need further proof? Look up the Florida Sex Offender Registry and see that some of these animals live in the Villages. Yes, I lock my doors.

JimT

[K9-Lovers]

According to CLRSearch.com, TV has more assault, burglary, larceny and property crime than the national average. There is a perception that there is low crime in TV because the developers do a fantastic job at marketing. I plan to keep my doors locked, use motion sensor lights and alarms, just as I did before moving to TV. Because we are an older (sometimes more trusting) population concentrated in one place, and due to the perception that wealthy people live in TV, criminals may see us as easy targets. Don't be an easy target -- lock your doors and be aware of your surroundings, just as you were before moving to "the bubble". Check out the statistics on the link below:

http://www.clrsearch.com/RSS/Demogra...ime_Statistics

[BobKat1]

This information reinforces that residents of TV should take the same precautions as residents of any city with 70k-80k people.

[villages07]

K-9.... thanks for that site; interesting, but, I'm not sure how credible. If you read the fine print it says it goes back 7 years. I find some of the assault, larceny, burglary figures for 32162 a bit difficult to believe. For grins, I put in a zip code for a not so nice area close to Washington DC and The Villages was very close to this other zip for assault, burglary, property crime.... ain't no way. The other zip had a murder rate index of 375 compared to the national 100 index...to give you an idea of how bad it was.

I think the 32162 zip has developed so much in the past 7 years that the numbers are skewed or just plain wrong.

Regardless, the basic message in this thread is lock your doors, be wary of suspicious behavior, and report intruders to the police.

[K9-Lovers]

Originally Posted by villages07

K-9.... thanks for that site; interesting, but, I'm not sure how credible. If you read the fine print it says it goes back 7 years. I find some of the assault, larceny, burglary figures for 32162 a bit difficult to believe. For grins, I put in a zip code for a not so nice area close to Washington DC and The Villages was very close to this other zip for assault, burglary, property crime.... ain't no way. The other zip had a murder rate index of 375 compared to the national 100 index...to give you an idea of how bad it was.

I think the 32162 zip has developed so much in the past 7 years that the numbers are skewed or just plain wrong.

Regardless, the basic message in this thread is lock your doors, be wary of suspicious behavior, and report intruders to the police.

Villages 07: I checked a couple of other sites. They can't all be wrong. Most of these sites base their research on information from police and sheriff sources. Here are two more sites quoting high crime in TV. The first source is CNN, the second is Trulia, a real estate search site. Even if the crime rate is high in TV, that shouldn't keep us from believing it is the best retirement community available . . . because it is! It just makes sense that with the poorer areas immediately outside of TV boundaries, coupled with those communities' perceptions of an elderly, wealthy and vulnerable population, crime against TV residents is the result. We should all be aware and beware, while enjoying the amenities, good neighbors, and good times.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/money...PL1271625.html

http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Th...ommunity-info/