The Clubhouse that SFPOA currently owns is essentially an unmanned, unsecured public building where anyone who has ever had a key can come into it at any time and do anything they wish to do. This summer there was much discussion about how to protect our property. The cheapest and easiest way to protect ourselves is with surveillance cameras. Over the years the cost has come down and the cameras have become better and easier to operate. But there have been mixed reviews on surveillance equipment – from “I don’t know why we haven’t had them sooner” to “it’s an invasion of my privacy”!
In the past there have been thefts and suspicious events reported at our Clubhouse without any evidence to prosecute. As a result of these malicious events, some of our concerned residents urged me to put in Surveillance Cameras and also donated the money for their purchase.
Some of the malicious events which have been ongoing are:
- The Dining Room and Kitchen doors are left open causing the air conditioners to run unnecessarily. At times the shades were even drawn back from the sliding doors, letting the sun shine in and heating up the room. Energy efficiency has been highly discussed so that the folks who are doing these tricks know that leaving the doors open is extremely energy inefficient and costly.
- Reports have been made of food stolen that was stored in the refrigerators prior to a ticketed event, causing the cooks and planners to have less food available for our members who attended.
- There have been at least three times that someone deliberately put a foreign object in the men’s room toilet causing it to be so severely clogged that it was necessary to call a plumber to remove the object. The first two times we paid almost $500.00 in plumbing bills. The last time we were able to remove the clog – a messy job but someone had to do it!
- Someone damaged the ceiling fan in front of the double doors. It was obvious that someone had twisted the fan blades out of position. The Building Manager was able to reposition the blades and no further problems with that fan have occurred. However, a second ceiling fan has a burnt out motor which cannot be repaired so a new fan was purchased and will be installed soon – costing somewhere in the area of $225.00.
There have been other unexplained events, but the biggest reason that Surveillance Cameras are needed is that someone stole the cameras which were purchased with donated money, wasting about $150.00 of our generous member’s money. This proves that we have folks who are willing to commit theft to get what they want. What else might they do if they don’t stop? What deeds/behavior are they trying to hide?
The previous cameras were relatively inexpensive and installed to deter any malicious events, not necessarily to catch guilty people. The events were stored on an SD card in the cameras which meant the evidence went when the cameras were removed and we didn’t have evidence of the guilty person committing the crime. However previous to the theft, I did see who was leaving the doors open at the Clubhouse and I did see who tried on two occasions to remove the cameras. So, it’s most likely that person who successfully stole them. However, after an investigation by the Highlands County Sheriff’s Department, it was deemed a crime of theft but not prosecutable without further evidence. They did create a case file which they will use as a basis to solve future criminal activity in our neighborhood.
As a result of this theft, we sought the advice of a security camera specialist and a new, more sophisticated system has been installed. If there is any theft of the new cameras, the backup equipment records and downloads it so that we’ll be able to catch the guilty and have the evidence to prosecute.
Some questions I ponder: Are we doing enough to protect our community? What is the best way to protect it? Because of the mixed reviews on surveillance equipment, please share your opinions with me. This is your community and we need everyone’s participation to handle the problems we have. I can be reached at 864-328-9723 or president@sebringfalls.org
Respectfully submitted,
Dee LeMay, President
Sebring Falls Property Owners Association