InvestiGATED

EVIDENTLY, IF BAD GUYS WANT to weasel into a guarded, gated community. friendliness is their best guise. A pleasant smile and some polite chitchat can get you past the most iron-faced guards and into the most reputable gated communities around Dallas-free to roam among the riches.

We visited four such communities to see how difficult going through their fortressed entrances would be, and it was easier than expected. The guards at all four did say later that they make valiant efforts to record every visitor’s license plate, but they do this as the cars are driving past them.

Glen Lakes on Boedeker- the self-described “premier” gated community-is scrupulous enough to post 16 mph speed-limit signs and says its guards are trained to ask each guest’s name and destination. Yet when a non-resident D staffer made a visit, “Cold day today, huh?” was enough to get the guard to lift the gate without further finagling.

Creekside at Oak Tree in North Dallas was even easier. Our unmasked intruder tailed a Federal Express van as it passed through the gate, warmly waved to the guard in the brick box and easily entered. No questions asked. No explanations needed.

Guards at Stonebriar in Frisco and Cottonwood Valley in Irving were trickier, but still not as interrogatory as they could have been. At both, guests who say they “just want to take a look around” are directed to the information centerto fill out a visitor’s pass-pretty fluorescent tags they write their name and telephone number on (no ID required). At Stonebriar’s office, guests don’t have to offer any sort of reason why they are there. But they do at Cottonwood Valley. So our quick-responding, Gap-clad, 22-year-old investigator said, “I’m thinking about buying a house-only not in the $2 million range.” And a pass was granted.