FC Life

Interview with Mark Hall-Head of Security- December 4, 2018

Mr. Hall was kind enough to answer questions for over 1 ½ hours today and he had

much more to relate but we ran out of time. I am most grateful for Mr. Hall’s gracious

responses to my unknowledgeable queries.

Statistics: December 2017-there was 72,500 entries and exits through the security gate.

Of these, 35,000 were residents and 37,000 were guests/vendors/staff.

Compare June 2018- 35,500 total entries and exits including both residents

and vendors/staff/guests.

Vendors: A complete background check is required before a vendor is allowed to get a pass to enter through the

gates. This pass includes a picture so it cannot be transferred to another person and must be shown at the

gate at each entry and must be updated yearly. A vendor must have a clean record for five years before

being allowed to receive a pass. The Bureau of Justice’s statistics reveals that if there is going to be

recidivism of certain crimes, it will occur within the first five year period.

Security Officers: There are 25 full time security officers and Paramedics. Every security officer must have previous

military or police experience, or have had extensive experience in customer relations or a college degree.

Each officer is required to have 2 State licenses. One qualifies him/her to carry a gun; the other assures the

officer has had and passed a 48 hour training program. Every license has to be renewed every two years and

every year the officer must pass a 4 hour firearm training session approved by a certified firearms instructor.

Every month our security officers take on-line training courses in the gate house in order to hone their skills or

to introduce new concepts. Each officer must take a test on that training session and pass.

Nightly, a boat with a security officer travels the waterways checking all waterway homes, inspecting all docks,

and checking that boats are secured. Also, the water ways are cleaned of obstacles, such as logs, and debris.

They found a shopping cart under the bridge, for example. In one instance, during a rain storm, a boat’s

battery had died and its pump stopped working. Security found it and used Frenchman’s pump to remove the

water in order to remedy the situation. The owner was then notified.

One of the most remarkable, but not the only helpful security operation, was to respond to a resident’s call

that her blind and deaf dog had fallen into the lake behind her house. The security officer went into the lake

and rescued the dog.

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