[BlueStarAirlines]

Originally Posted by village dreamer

a what??? when was the last time a sheriff went past your house.......

Wildwood police drove by 2 times today. There is only one sheriff and I imagine he's pretty much at his desk all day.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by BlueStarAirlines

Wildwood police drove by 2 times today. There is only one sheriff and I imagine he's pretty much at his desk all day.

The Wildwood Police department has 65 FT Officers.

The Sheriff's Department has over 150 patrol officers.

That's a total of 215 officers patrolling the streets and area.

I'd say the Sheriff spends a lot of time at his desk, he has a total of 400+ employees to manage.

[Rocksnap]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

CW does more than open a gate. Driving past every home 3x/day on a random schedule is a deterrent to criminals. Helping to check IDs at pools helps keep outsiders from using the facilities that we pay for. Some of my neighbors have received the phone call that they left their garage door open late at night--- a sure invitation to those with ill intent. Even the gate attendants might spot a suspicious person or vehicle better than a camera. Yes, a lot of their presence is designed to give the illusion of a gated community, but what they actually do is worthwhile

Worthwhile at its core value, yes.
Worthwhile at a cost/benefit value, no.
Strictly talking about the gate attendants.
The Rec/pool attendants need to stay.

[Grill Meister]

Yes, there was a time that the Community Watch policed deed restrictions. They were proactive and from all I could see, they did a good job. Of course, we have lived in TV only since 2004, so what do I know. I would really like to see them have that authority again.

[jimdecastro]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Agreed. But I also think that how Community Watch is constrained by the Powers-That-Be adds to the general frustration that people seem to have about them.

Case in point: Community Watch monitors and reports water usage in contravention of the current regulations on lawn watering. Well and good. But...when people have suggested to those same Powers-That-Be that Community Watch monitor and report the more egregious examples of rule infractions regarding property, they are told that it isn't the job of Community Watch to monitor and report such things!

My question is why not? Seems that reporting properties where rulebreaking regarding lawn watering is taking place, then reporting other property violations is not much if any different. If every home in TV is checked by Community Watch 3 x daily on their rounds, then they're obviously going to see that lawn that is ready for the baler rather than the mower, or lanai screens fluttering at half-mast, or the north side of some houses that are spotted with mold up to at least the halfway point, or that RV that has been parked on the street for over three weeks. I've seen all of that and a lot more, though thankfully not in the Village where I live. I'm not talking about the picayune stuff--a little white cross in a yard, for example, is really not worth getting one's undies in a bundle--but the major stuff if left unchecked can negatively affect property values, and certainly doesn't give a good impression to people thinking about moving here.

GREAT post.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

CW does more than open a gate. Driving past every home 3x/day on a random schedule is a deterrent to criminals. Helping to check IDs at pools helps keep outsiders from using the facilities that we pay for. Some of my neighbors have received the phone call that they left their garage door open late at night--- a sure invitation to those with ill intent. Even the gate attendants might spot a suspicious person or vehicle better than a camera. Yes, a lot of their presence is designed to give the illusion of a gated community, but what they actually do is worthwhile

Originally Posted by Rocksnap

Worthwhile at its core value, yes.
Worthwhile at a cost/benefit value, no.
Strictly talking about the gate attendants.
The Rec/pool attendants need to stay.

Cost/benefit?????

$14 million budget, 80,000 homes = $175/year = $14.58/month, not all of which comes out of our amenity fees.

You would pay twice that (after initial investment) for a monitored alarm system

You would pay much more in a truly gated community or for the police officers to patrol

It's hard to believe that there is a core of residents who want to eliminate this service to save <$14.58/mo.

[PLedoux]

I pretty much agree with you. My only issue is that there seems to be no reason for the existence of this wok force. Every response from them seems to be “not my job, man.” I don’t believe they are deterring anyone from wrong doing by just driving around. And, there doesn’t seem to be any published list of “things Community Watch is responsible for.” I do agree that my fees are very reasonable for what I get and I mostly give this problem no thought. But some accountability for this program would be nice.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by PLedoux

I pretty much agree with you. My only issue is that there seems to be no reason for the existence of this wok force. Every response from them seems to be “not my job, man.” I don’t believe they are deterring anyone from wrong doing by just driving around. And, there doesn’t seem to be any published list of “things Community Watch is responsible for.” I do agree that my fees are very reasonable for what I get and I mostly give this problem no thought. But some accountability for this program would be nice.

Here is the Community Watch website that explains what they do:

https://www.districtgov.org/services...mmunity-watch/

Also, they used to publish an annual report that was very detailed and listed every encounter event that they performed during the previous year. However, recently I have not been able to find the latest annual report.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by PLedoux

I pretty much agree with you. My only issue is that there seems to be no reason for the existence of this wok force. Every response from them seems to be “not my job, man.” I don’t believe they are deterring anyone from wrong doing by just driving around. And, there doesn’t seem to be any published list of “things Community Watch is responsible for.” I do agree that my fees are very reasonable for what I get and I mostly give this problem no thought. But some accountability for this program would be nice.

Here is the August 2026 Community Watch Quarterly Report presented to the PWAC. Not a list of what they are responsible for but a list of what they felt was worth commenting on.

Other reports have mentioned the House Check and Adult Watch programs and success stories that resulted form noticing newspapers in the driveway.

[bluecenturian]

CW is worthless. Call them and tell them there is a suspicious vehicle in your neighborhood and they should drive buy and you are told “we don’t do that you need to call 911”. They are like a bunch of scared little kids. No one is asking them to go do a car stop but a person seeing a CW drive by may decide to just leave. All they do is check the security of houses for snow birds. Let people pay if you want a private security guard but we should all pay for a group of people that won’t even drive by a suspicious vehicle because “it is too dangerous”. We don’t need gate guards to open the gates either. I would rather see them all lived to pools and check ids before everyone enters.

[jarodrig]

Originally Posted by ureout

. why not just use the same sensor system as when exiting .. pull up to the gate and have sensor just lift the gate automatically..

My guess is that it would make too much sense and would put a bunch of folks out of a job ! 😆

It’s computer controlled so they can easily set the timing so that cars can’t just blow through it….

[Maker]

Originally Posted by CarlR33

I was wondering the same thing a while back when they had all the new CW SUV’s parked in a staging area what a lot of $ for someone to go around and wave at you. For the people wanting to report street lights it simple if they are Duke’s. I have done it several times with positive responses on repair.
Street & Area Light Repair Map - Duke Energy

Too simplistic of a "solution"
There are several different utility companies that each take care of different areas. SECO, Fruitland Park, etc. You need to know the right one to notify or else you cannot report the light.
You also need the pole number. That can mean stopping in the lane of traffic to get out and note it. That's not safe. CW has warning lights on their vehicles for when they are stopped in traffic lanes. They also can radio the information to dispatch, who has a computer ready and waiting to be used for something productive. Dispatch also has a map of which poles are in which power company.

[Maker]

Originally Posted by ureout

I agree why do we need gate attendants all they do is push a button to open the gate... also with all the talk now of the new stickers on your headlights to open a gate.. why not just use the same sensor system as when exiting .. pull up to the gate and have sensor just lift the gate automatically..

That is called "construction mode"
Pull up, stop, gate opens
FREE TO ENABLE and no more cards, or stickers, or new multi-million dollar hardware

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by bluecenturian

CW is worthless. Call them and tell them there is a suspicious vehicle in your neighborhood and they should drive buy and you are told “we don’t do that you need to call 911”. They are like a bunch of scared little kids. No one is asking them to go do a car stop but a person seeing a CW drive by may decide to just leave. All they do is check the security of houses for snow birds. Let people pay if you want a private security guard but we should all pay for a group of people that won’t even drive by a suspicious vehicle because “it is too dangerous”. We don’t need gate guards to open the gates either. I would rather see them all lived to pools and check ids before everyone enters.

Again, THAT'S NOT WHAT THEY DO. They are not law enforcement. They are not armed. They are not detectives.

And yet, 2 sentences after describing them as worthless, we have " a person seeing a CW drive by may decide to just leave". So which is it? No value in having a "suspicious" vehicle or person leave? Are we looking for the shootout at OK Corral on the streets of Hemmingway???

[CrosbyStills]

I'll say just two things about Community Watch:

1. Security is about layers, not a single thing. Like an onion;
2. Good security is not convenient. You will be inconvenienced making your way through systems and layers.

Community Watch is not a panacea, but they are a layer. Every layer is worthwhile.