Gated Communities

[tommyg]

My mother resides in a gated condo community. I have a code to get in
most of the time I don't bother to use it becuse residents
drive thru the gate and the gate remains open for several minutes then the gate closes slowly.
The traffic thru the gate is high enough that the gate is open a substancial part of the time
The fence around the community could be easily breached with minimal effort.

A BG could easily get in and jam the gate closed making it
hard for police and other responders to enter
in an emergency. This kind of security is worse than useless.

I often wonder whose side a gated community is on. Is a gated community your friend or an enemy???

Does anyone else have any input into how secure a gated community really is??????

More gun laws won't do anything good they give the BG more protection from the residents once inside


P.S. There is a registered sex offender residing in the same condo community that
my mother resides in ( he is a hairdresser and likes to rape kids) I found him in a state sex offender registry
Since he obviously has a gate code since he is a bonified resident he could let his colligues in easily without having to sneak in or break in if ????
all they have to say I'm a guest of John Smith (not his real name) and they are a legitimate guest.

[Hoosier Daddy]

An unmanned gate is as worthless as TSA security.

[jmra]

Society is all about what feels good. It feels good to live behind the gate. It feels good to believe that the bad guy can't get past TSA. It feels good to believe I am safe and protected without assuming any responsibility for my own well being.
It's all about perception and how you feel...who wants to actually face reality much less deal with it.

[Oldgringo]

There are two gated communities in our Pineywoods hamlet. One is named the Sky Unit and the newer one is named the Hodges Unit. They are both owned and staffed by TDCJ.

[texanron]

Gated communities are status symbols to some folks.

[Birdshot70]

The best definition of a gated community I can come up with would be a group of dwelling places surrounded by a perimeter wall high enough to be un-scalable without equipment. Have gate security guards and a patrol or two roaming the property.
As with most gated communities the HOA would set rules and enforce HOA infractions. Even though meetings would have voting; majority always rules.
Everything has it's order and you can do what you like within the confines of the governing rules.
All residents would have a back ground check and if found suitable for entry be allowed to reside.

Now ,is it just me or can you change a few of those words and it defines a prison, not a gated community. But to be honest, isn't a prison just a gated community with better security? I have family in gated communities and in some ways a prisoner has more freedom!

[Keith B]

Gated communities are just a method of making the sheep that are fenced in believe they are safe from Mr. Wolf. There are plenty of ways to defeat any alleged security and even armed guards.

I was asked to go to South Africa and work for my company back in 1998. Due to my daughter being 5 and the country being so violent, I reluctantly declined the great job offer.

They housed all of our expatriates in homes in gated communities. In the community I would have been living in there was construction going on. When the workers arrived in the mornings they would count the number of people in the vehicle, then count them and thoroughly search the vehicles when they left in the evening. They were apparently smuggling in 2-3 additional 'workers' under tarps who would stick around and hide out, then burglarize homes after dark. The home of a British family across the street from one of our other employees was broken into one night. The Dad, Mom and two kids under age 10 were gunned down in the home during the burglary.

[papajohn1964]

Security devices, gates, cameras, locks, alarm etc... Are there to keep honest people honest. If a crook wants it bad enough he is going to get it. Ever seen a lock on a screen door and wonder why?

[RPB]

Security devices, gates, cameras, locks, alarm etc... Are there to keep honest people honest. If a crook wants it bad enough he is going to get it. Ever seen a lock on a screen door and wonder why?

Keeps the bigger stronger Texas-sized bugs out... until a resident unlocks and opens it ... just like a gated community

[Birdshot70]

Keeps the bigger stronger Texas-sized bugs out...

Even the Houston sized Palmetto bugs? I've never seen anything short of napalm work on those buggers!

[RPBrown]

There are two gated communities in our Pineywoods hamlet. One is named the Sky Unit and the newer one is named the Hodges Unit. They are both owned and staffed by TDCJ.

Yep. Difficult but not impossible to get in and out of

[alvins]

Where I live people just come in behind you or wait for someone to open the gate. its a big load of bull. I have one friend that lives in a gates community, you have to check in with the guard and give them your drivers licens and they write down a bunch of stuff along with the type of car and plate number. Then the guard calls my friend and he has to tell them if im allowed in or not.its quite a hassle and i hardly goto his house because of it. The houses arent even that nice compared to where I grew up in friendswood.

[steveincowtown]

Gates, locks, cameras, security, etc. don't change the criminal, they just change the nature of the crime.

I managed a large retail store and we were having trouble with a particular brand of jacket that had appeared in a video being stolen.

True Story:

Crime 1: They shoplifted the jackets. I made employees aware and this stopped.

Crime 2: They came in groups, distracted the employees and shoplifted the jackets. I put in "Sensormatic" (the little tags that go off when you walk past the uprights at the door).

Crime 3: Group came in, all grabbed jackets, all ran out. I then started wiring the jackets to the rack itself.

Crime 4: Group came in, grabbed the whole rack, ran out. I then kept the jackets in the back room with just one on display.

Crime 5: Group came in, one with a gun, and demanded all the jackets.

...I called our main office and asked that my location not carry this brand of jacket anymore.

Point is, if someone wants what you have bad enough, they are going to do whatever it takes to get it.

[RoyGBiv]

Gated communities are just a method of making the sheep that are fenced in believe they are safe from Mr. Wolf.

It was fun telling my community (when I was VP of the HOA) that adding video cameras on the gates would do little to keep anyone safe. That it was just a feel-good that we couldn't afford at the time..

"People" are pretty thick.... I was not popular.

[Tamie]

There's another benefit in some states. If they bypass the access controls, they're trespassing. No warning needed. From that point on, any force a resident can legally use against a trespasser is automatically justified.