An 11-year-old boy, Derek B. Smith of Brooklyn, was found at the bottom of a pool early Sunday evening at a house off Route 114 in East Hampton. A family friend with whom he was spending the day pulled him out and frantically called 911 while performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

East Hampton Town police said the boy, who had special needs, was visiting here for the day.

Chief Michael Sarlo said an officer arrived at the house three minutes after the call came in at 5:08 p.m., and took over C.P.R. A paid paramedic and East Hampton Village Ambulance Association members soon followed, as did three East Hampton Village police officers. The boy was taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Derek was fully clothed and did not know how to swim, Detective Sgt. Greg Schaefer said on Tuesday. The detective said he was apparently not mentally or physically disabled, but that he did attend a special-needs school in Brooklyn.

The family friend, whose name was not released, told police Derek was outside playing with a ball while she was inside on the phone. They were the only two people at the house at the time.

He was only out of sight for three or four minutes, she told the detective. “She began to look for him and she realized there was something at the bottom of the pool.”

“How he ended up there — whether he fell in accidentally — we are still investigating.” Detective Schaefer said police were told the boy was “aware and afraid of the water.”

The woman had asked Derek’s grandmother, who was his main caretaker, if she could bring him out for the day. “She thought it would be fun,” the detective said.

There were no signs of trauma on the body, and no foul play is suspected. Police are awaiting a report from the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s office.

A town code enforcement officer later conducted an assessment of the property, which tax records indicate is owned by Elizabeth Bianco of New York City. A fence around the pool was present; that was not a contributing factor in the death, police said.

Tom Preiato, the town’s chief building inspector, was called to the house during the investigation. On Tuesday, he declined to discuss specifics of the property, citing an ongoing investigation.

New York State building code mandates that pools be completely enclosed with at least a four-foot fence or wall, which may include a house. All doors with direct access to the pool through that wall must be equipped with an alarm. All gates must be equipped with spring locks that open only from the inside and that are capable of being locked.

Southampton Town is expected to move forward next week on plans to repair the Sagg Bridge using federal money, despite objections from Sagaponack Village officials, who are desperate to preserve the small country bridge which crosses Sagg Pond and connects Sagaponack to Bridgehampton on Bridge Lane.

The village board has sought to control the 1923 bridge and assume all responsibility for it, and is now considering acquiring it by eminent domain. In a letter to the Southampton Town Board last month, Mayor Donald H. Louchheim said board members were frustrated at being unable to reach an agreement with the town about how the bridge would be altered.

He said the town had rejected the village’s offer to replace the federal funding if the town agreed to amend the work on the bridge. The town had also rejected the idea of giving the bridge to the village, he said, and hadn’t responded yet on whether it would be willing to let the village buy it. In the meantime, state historic designation is being sought in the hope that it wouldhelp preserve the bridge’s character.

Thirty-five feet of the bridge is beyond the village boundary because the line goes through the middle of Sagg Pond. Under New York State law, a town is responsible for all bridges in an incorporated village unless the village wants to take it over, and only then it can do so if the town agrees. “They would have to give us that 35 feet, which according to their attorney is a very simple annexation process because you’re not talking about property with an assessed value or tax rates, etc., nor are you changing the use of the property,” Mr. Louchheim said.

“We’ve kind of run out of options. Obviously, this is a last resort,” Mr. Louchheim said, referring to the possibility of using eminent domain. “Frankly, it’s incomprehensible to us, really, that the board and the highway superintendent should stubbornly reject these offers and chose to go ahead with a project that’s viewed by residents of both the village and Bridgehampton as aesthetically offensive and inappropriate to the character of the bridge. We do not understand it,” Mr. Louchheim said.

Southampton Town, which has responsibility for the bridge under state law, has plans for a $1 million project that would shore up the seawall at the bridge, which is collapsing, widen and repave the travel lanes, take erosion and sediment control measures, and replace the railing with the help of a $500,000 federal grant administered by the state’s Department of Transportation.

Southampton Town Councilman Brad Bender, the liaison to the Highway Department, which would oversee the work, said he wants to find an amenable solution and is working both to see that the 80-foot-long bridge is repaired and gets historic designation if the state deems it eligible. “But, you have to understand, my larger commitment is to the safety of our residents and we ?couldn’t open up the town to litigation if we’re unwilling to make repairs,” he said. “We have to balance that with the historic preservation . . . it’s kind of a juggling act.”

Alex Gregor, the town highway superintendent, who is in charge of the project, has said bringing the bridge up to federal and state standards will make it safer. Referring to an engineering report that called the bridge “functionally obsolete,” he said federal money couldn’t be used otherwise. “Everybody is focusing on ‘functionally obsolete,’ ” Mr. Louchheim said. “Well, lots of things are ‘functionally obsolete’ that are still going on -— including me,” he said with a laugh.

Mr. Louchheim said that Sally Spanburgh, the chair of the Southampton Town Landmarks and Historic Districts Board, in a “yeoman effort” had researched the history of the bridge. She said the steel and concrete structure is the fourth bridge at the site and the fifth crossing — the first one was made of logs and therefore not considered a bridge. She noted that the bridge is the successor of the one that gave Bridgehampton its name. She plans to file her report with the state’s Office of Historic Preservation and the Department of Transportation’s cultural resource unit by the end of the week in the hope that the bridge is eligible for landmark status. “It was always our intention to apply for eligibility consideration, we just didn’t realize it needed to be so urgently,” she said. She said she expected to hear back in a few weeks.

Nevertheless, the Southampton Town Board has put a resolution to acceept the federal grant on the agenda of its Tuesday meeting. “We’re going to try and get them to defer that until we can get an answer from the state on whether or not the state considers it a bridge where the aesthetics should be preserved,” the mayor said. Councilman Bender said the town is at risk of losing the money because a deadline is nearing. “If we have a drop-dead date that’s close, then we’re going to have to move forward. The reason being, we don’t have an agreement currently with Sagaponack to pick up the lost funds and the town surely doesn’t have the money to make up for the lost funds if we were to drop the ball on this,” he said. “We can’t say, ‘Oh, we dropped the ball,’ and then ask the residents of Southampton to pick up the $500,000.”

If in fact the town moves forward on Tuesday, or even at a later date, the project won’t begin for another two months, Mr. Bender said. The state is expected to respond long before then, so there is still a possibility that the bridge could be preserved through historic designation.

Still, Mayor Louchheim said the village might turn to litigation if the town keeps pressing forward. Anthony B. Tohill, the village attorney, advised the board that it is possible for a municipality to exercise eminent domain on a property in another municipality as long as the public use of that property doesn’t change. Eminent domain is more often seen in instances where a municipality condemns private property for public use in exchange for fair compensation. What the compensation, if any, would be in this case remains to be seen.

Consultants for East Hampton Town have set the economic value of a beach reconstruction project in downtown Montauk, where storms have severely eroded the shore, at more than $238 million, if the prevention of damages to buildings and infrastructure and the ongoing costs of beach protection efforts and post-storm repairs are factored in.

The analysis prepared by First Coastal Corporation of Westhampton Beach differs considerably from one commissioned by the Army Corps of Engineers, which has committed to completing an emergency Montauk beach reconstruction effort at full federal expense, but only one that satisfies the agency’s cost-benefit formula.

Consultants for the Army Corps pegged the total economic benefit to be derived from a Montauk beach reconstruction project at $103.8 million.

In April, the federal agency offered to complete a $6 million reinforcement of 3,100 feet of the Montauk beach, installing sand-filled geotextile bags to reinforce the dunes and then covering them with 45,000 cubic yards of sand.

The proposal fell short for town officials, who had hoped to see a full-scale beach replenishment with construction of a “feeder beach” that would provide sand to replace what is continually lost through normal littoral drift.

An immediate project of a larger scope, the Army Corps said, is not considered economically justified under its emergency work authorization. However, Corps officials told the town, more extensive work could take place as part of its Fire Island to Montauk reformulation study, a longer-range scope of work that is being developed and is several years from implementation.

The study by First Coastal was commissioned to help the town convince the Army Corps that more extensive, immediate work is warranted.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said in a press release on Monday that the finding by First Coastal “lends support for Montauk to receive significantly more relief than what the Army Corps has already committed to the hamlet.”

“Without the construction of a feeder beach, the emergency project as currently proposed places Montauk in a vulnerable position,” said Mr. Cantwell in the release.

“Since the economic analysis is key tothe Army Corps’s justification for this project,” Mr. Cantwell said he is “urging the Army Corps to build a much more substantial project in Montauk as soon as possible.”

First Coastal calculated that a full beach reconstruction project would provide protection that could prevent more than $236 million in damages to buildings and both public and private infrastructure. That would include more than $205 million in damages to buildings, over $29 million in damages to private infrastructure services, such as water, electric, cable, telephone, and septic and drainage systems, and an estimated $694,650 in damages to public utility infrastructure, though that figure may be revised based on additional forthcoming information.

The total does not include the potential loss of income or loss of land. Those factors are still being calculated, First Coastal said in a memo to the town.

The tally includes an estimated $2.8 million in “costs avoided,” an estimate of what has been spent on dune restorations and maintenance, such as beach grass planting and sand fencing, and building repairs due to storm damage, in the Montauk downtown area between 2010 and 2013.

By contrast, a memo to town officials from First Coastal says, the economic analysis prepared by the Army Corps’s consultant, URS, does not factor in the $2.8 million in costs that would be avoided, nor does it include an inventory of the public and private infrastructures or of accessory buildings that could be damaged without storm protection.

The two analyses also differed in the numbers used for finished square footage in 43 downtown Montauk structures; First Coastal identified 411,154 square feet of space, while the Army Corps report used a 338,300-square-foot figure.

Estimates of construction costs for replacement of damaged structures also differed. In its memo to the town, First Coastal said that per-foot construction costs in Montauk are “substantially more” than the costs estimated by the Corps’s consultants.

Based on information from local contractors and consumers, First Coastal estimated the replacement costs at $425 to $475 per square foot, including furnishings. The Corps’s analysis pegs them at between $240 and $267 per square foot.

The federal agency’s consultants, the memo says, used cost-estimating software to estimate 2005 construction costs in Riverhead, then increased them by a factor to update them for 2013. The method, says First Coastal, does not recognize the geographic location and labor issues that make construction costs significantly higher in Montauk than in Riverhead.

The construction costs estimated by First Coastal reflects the cost to replace a structure in compliance with state and local building codes, as well as Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations, while the Army Corps’s report only accounts for the cost of replacing them as they were originally built, according to the First Coastal memo. “This does not take into account the fact that the majority of these buildings are currently not” up to the codes, the memo says.

“The Army Corps is reacting, in a dialogue with First Coastal, in regard to that data,” Supervisor Cantwell said of the consultants’ analysis, at a town board meeting on Tuesday. “So I’m hopeful.”

East Hampton Town officials found several building code violations around the pool of a Route 114 house where a boy drowned on Sunday.

Tom Preiato, the town's chief building inspector, and David Betts, director of the town's public safety division, confirmed Friday that a notice of violation of the New York State Property Maintenance Code, as it pertains to pools, had been issued to the homeowners, Elizabeth and Joseph Bianco, who are cooperating and in the process of correcting the issues.

Derek B. Smith, an 11-year-old from Brooklyn, was visiting the house with a family friend who reportedly works for one of the Biancos. The woman, whose name police did not release, found Derek at the bottom of the pool after he was out of her sight for just three or four minutes while playing with a ball around the pool. He was not breathing, and despite resuscitations efforts, he was pronounced dead at Southampton Hospital.

East Hampton Town police Detective Sgt. Greg Schaefer said Friday that he did not believe the any of the building issues contributed to the boy's death. The family friend who was with him "saw him go out. She knew he was out there and she didn't fear that he was going to go near the pool," he said.

"There are a number of violations, but they are given an opportunity to repair them before any action is taken," Mr. Betts explained, adding that the homeowners "are diligently working to correct these violations." 

Mr. Preiato said five of the doors leading out to the pool were not outfitted with alarms and five exterior gates were not self-closing and self-latching. Also, he said, a section of the pool fence that was approximately 8 feet long was only 36 inches high where 48 inches is required and a section of lattice fencing had spacing between them that were greater than the 1 3/4 inches that is permitted.

Alarms on the doors leading out to the pool were installed immediately, Mr. Betts said.

In late 2001, Mr. Preiato inspected the property before the certificate of occupancy was issued in 2002. It met code requirements at that time, he said.

Mr. Preiato said he is in daily contact with Mr. Bianco and made it clear to him that "time is of the essence," he said. The homeowners have wired some of the gates with nylon ties so they can't open at all.

"There is no hesitation there. They are working very hard," Mr. Betts said.

As long as the violations are fixed, no summonses will be issued, a common practice, he said.

The June 3 East Hampton School Board meeting took on a celebratory note, with the district riding high on its recent budget vote victory. East Hampton was the only school district on Long Island to override the state-imposed tax cap after securing the support of 73 percent of its voters.

Later in the meeting, the board announced a decision to retain Frazer and Feldman, a Garden City law firm that works with several school districts, as East Hampton’s general, labor, and special education counsel for a one-year term beginning July 1. Kevin Seaman, the district’s outgoing counsel, has held the position for the last four years.

“I’m hoping they’ll steer us right,” Richard Burns, the district’s superintendent, said of the switch. “We’re still in a bit of litigation in certain areas,” he continued, presumably referring to the district’s ongoing lawsuit with Sandpebble Builders over a school expansion project. Over the past decade, Mr. Burns estimated, the district has spent nearly $3 million on legal fees. “And we’re hoping they can move things forward in an expedient manner.”

Jackie Lowey, a board member, updated those in attendance concerning the district’s lunch program. Called NutriKids, it is a swipe-card system that allows parents to prepay for lunches. Implemented earlier this year, NutriKids promotes equity by not distinguishing between students paying full and reduced prices for their meals. Recently, however, the district has discovered that some parents aren’t paying their bills in a timely manner — with East Hampton owed nearly $30,000 as a result.

“Our overarching policy should not be embarrassing children,” urged Ms. Lowey, adding that the district will ensure that all kids are fed and, when appropriate, help those families who qualify apply for free and reduced-price lunches.

Ms. Lowey proposed sending a letter home to the families still owing money, followed by a phone call stipulating a deadline to pay up. If the deadline is not met, students won’t receive their class assignments for next year, with report cards also withheld.

“Holding a child’s grades or promotion hurts the child, particularly one from a chaotic home,” said Patricia Hope, the board president. She suggested a social worker be tasked to intervene. “It’s not always an unwillingness to pay.”

In other news, the district granted tenure to six of its employees: Robert Tymann, Taryn Brennan, Joshua Odom, Jessica Zimmerman, Trevor Gregory, and Katelyn Pryal.

At the start of the meeting, Stephanie Tepan and Karla Cabrera, two East Hampton High School seniors, were each honored after receiving Angelo del Toro scholarships, which aim to foster leadership skills among Latino youth. Come September, Stephanie is headed to Hunter College. Karla will enroll at New York University.

Joe Vas, the district’s athletic director, acknowledged the Kendall Madison Foundation, a local nonprofit, after $15,000 worth of supplies and equipment were donated to help upgrade the high school’s fitness center earlier this year.

Also that night, the board voted to spend $8,000 to set up two classrooms as part of the district’s new career technology education program. Starting in September, East Hampton students can take courses in law enforcement and personal training. At present, such students take similar classes at the nearest Board of Cooperative Educational Services facility, in Riverhead.

During the final opportunity for public comments, Claude Beudert, who teaches at the East Hampton Middle School, thanked residents for their support during last month’s budget vote. “We have a nice product and people supported it,” said Mr. Beudert. “It’s takes a village, and it really was a positive thing that we got it through.”

“Thank you for being stewards with us as we did that very difficult task,” Ms. Hope said, before adjourning the meeting, after which slices of cake were served in honor of those faculty members receiving tenure and those retiring from the district.

The final meeting of the 2013-14 school year is planned for June 17 at 6:30 p.m.

The Republican Party’s primary election to determine the candidate who will face the incumbent, Representative Tim Bishop, will take place on June 24. The primary pits Lee Zeldin, a two-term state senator from Shirley, against George Demos, an attorney formerly with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission who lives in Stony Brook.

Mr. Bishop, who is seeking a seventh term in what is expected to be a closely contested election, does not face a primary challenger.

Mr. Zeldin is a graduate of the State University at Albany and earned a law degree from Albany Law School. He spent four years on active duty with the Army and served in Iraq. At present he serves as a major in the Army Reserves. He is backed by the Republican and Conservative Parties.

Mr. Demos, the grandson of Greek immigrants, served on the team that prosecuted Bernard Madoff, the investment adviser convicted in what is considered to be the largest financial fraud in U.S. history. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki have endorsed him.

Both candidates point to the economy as the top issue facing the district. Mr. Zeldin, who ran unsuccessfully against Mr. Bishop in 2008, criticized the congressman for what he called an ineffective effort to obtain funding for Hurricane Sandy recovery. “By the first Memorial Day, Jones Beach had new dunes, new roads, and money was flowing into Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island,” he said in an interview. “Yet the Fire Island to Montauk Point plan is still loaded with projects that haven’t seen a dime. It’s important for our local representative to be our strongest and most effective advocate to get those projects started.”

Mr. Zeldin was also critical of the implementation of the Common Core academic standards, the Affordable Care Act, and the state of veterans’ health care.

Mr. Demos, who is also critical of the Affordable Care Act, has positioned himself as a political outsider not beholden to his party’s establishment. “The defining issues of this campaign are Obamacare and taxes,” he said. “On both issues, Lee Zeldin went to Albany and voted for Obamacare and higher taxes, and I would not have done that.”

Voters, Mr. Demos said, “want someone who’s going to stand up and defend conservative principals regardless of what the establishment says. The problem in Washington is we have too many go-along-to-get-along politicians who take their marching orders from the Republican bosses.”

Officer Julio Mario Galeano, an East Hampton Village police officer who allegedly used a house on Talmage Lane for a romantic encounter with a female member of the department without the permission of the house’s owner, will resign from the department effective Aug. 2. Terms of his resignation are subject to ratification by the East Hampton Village Board, according to a statement issued by Rebecca Molinaro, the village administrator, on Monday.

Officer Galeano's transgression, which allegedly took place on Dec. 30 when he and a traffic control officer met in the house, was the subject of a hearing on Friday. John G. Callahan, an attorney appointed by the village board as an independent officer to hear the disciplinary charges against Mr. Galeano, heard comments and testimony at the Emergency Services Building. It was up to Mr. Galeano as to whether or not the hearing would be open to the public. He opted for a closed hearing.

Jennifer Rosa, a former traffic control officer, had previously worked at the Talmage Lane house as a cleaner and knew where a key was kept, according to police. The house's owner was not there, but guests who were authorized to enter and stay at the house discovered the pair in December and called the police.

Ms. Rosa was fired from the Police Department in January. The police force confiscated Mr. Galeano's badge and gun following the alleged incident. He was suspended with pay, per the collective bargaining agreement between the village and the Police Benevolent Association, and denied the charges through the P.B.A. 

On Feb. 11, Chief Gerard Larsen brought disciplinary charges against Mr. Galeano. Ten days later, the village board adopted new legislation on police discipline that does away with the arbitration procedures previously required and provides for dismissal as an option. On the same day, the board unanimously voted to suspend Mr. Galeano for 30 days without pay. 

The P.B.A. filed a petition in Suffolk County Supreme Court seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the new local law from going into effect, with an attorney for the union calling it a breach of contract. That petition was denied, and Ms. Molinaro said on Tuesday that the P.B.A. has withdrawn its challenge of the new law. Kevin Duchemin, a village police sergeant and president of the P.B.A, did not return a call seeking comment.

Mr. Galeano's 30-day suspension expired on March 21, and he was returned to the payroll, but was required to stay at home, according to Chief Larsen. 

Born in Colombia, Mr. Galeano, who began working as a village police officer in November 2004, is the only Latino officer on the force. In early 2013, the department recognized him for his role in the arrest and conviction the year before of a man accused of having sexual relations with a child.

A small bag of methamphetamine in rock form was found in a parking lot at the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton Village on Wednesday.

Richard Burns, the East Hampton School District superintendent, announced the discovery in a statement to parents on Wednesday afternoon. Village police were notifed and identified it as the illegal controlled substance known as crystal meth. Police confiscated the bag and are conducting an investigation.

"At no point did our students come into contact with the illegal substance and we will continue to work with police and monitor the situation," Mr. Burns said. 

The $6.5 million expansion and renovation of the East Hampton Library, which will add 6,800 square feet for a new children’s room and the Baldwin Family Lecture Room, is virtually complete and will be unveiled at a June 21 grand opening that will include a ribbon cutting ceremony, a musical performance by the East Hampton Middle School Bonnettes, tours, refreshments, and entertainment for children.

The actor Alec Baldwin, who has donated substantial sums to the library, will present prizes to elementary and middle school students that submitted entries in the library’s writing and drawing contest. The June 21 program, capping a years-long effort to raise money and complete the expansion and renovation, will also commemorate the opening with the placement of various items into a time capsule.

“It’s been a long haul,” said Tom Twomey, chairman of the library’s board. “We’re very excited about the opening.”

At approximately 4,000 square feet, the children’s section is large and bright, including areas dedicated to age groups from birth through eighth grade. It allows for 10,000 more children’s books, new computers, and other technology. Each area will have its own collection, computers, and furniture.

The Baldwin Family Lecture Room, on the lower level of the addition, will be used for film screenings, poetry readings, historical lectures, children’s programs, and author and book events, and will house a state-of-the-art audio-visual system. In a partnership with the New York Public Library, the new system, which includes a 7-by-12-foot screen, will allow streaming of that library’s programs, as well as content from other institutions worldwide, directly into the room. Mr. Baldwin’s $1 million gift, bestowed in November, “made all the difference in the world as far as being able to outfit and install very sophisticated equipment,” Mr. Twomey said. Mr. Baldwin, who is the honorary chairman of the library’s annual Authors Night fund-raiser, also donated $250,000 to local libraries in the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

 The library’s existing spaces and infrastructure have undergone a thorough refurbishing including painting, upgrades to the furnaces, and new carpeting, shelving, air-conditioning and heating, fire sprinklers, alarms, and landscaping including a children’s “secret garden.” For the latter component, Mr. Twomey said that Marders Garden Center and Nursery of Bridgehampton had been “stunningly generous.” Without Marders, he said, “We couldn’t have finished this job right.”

The Hedges Room has been renovated and will now house media including DVDs and CDs. The Ed and Frances Barlow Media Room, where digital media was previously situated, will be an adult reading room that Mr. Twomey said would feature an elegant, living room-type atmosphere with seating. It has been renamed the Ed and Frances Barlow Reading Room. Theproject also included the addition of 16 parking spaces and a dedicated space for the library’s sale of donated books on amazon.com. A second elevator allows for the entire building to be accessible to the handicapped.

The latest project represents the second of a two-phase initiative, following a $3.5 million expansion and renovation, completed in 1997, in which the brick courtyard and the side of the building housing the adult fiction collection, the Horticulture Room, the director’s office, and the rear entrance were added, said Dennis Fabiszak, the library’s director. The $10 million represented by the two phases was raised privately from local residents, and “not a penny from taxpayer money,” Mr. Twomey said. “East Hampton always had a tradition, going back to 1912, of raising that from generous individuals in the community.” As of last week, the library’s principals were still seeking to raise $250,000 to complete the project’s financing.

Mr. Twomey and Mr. Fabiszak also credited Ben Krupinski, the project’s construction manager, as well as Robert A.M. Stern, the architect, and Lee Skolnick, who designed the interior of the children’s addition.

Mr. Twomey praised Mr. Fabiszak for keeping the core of the project within its budget. Mr. Fabiszak, he said, “practically served as assistant construction manager. Dennis put in six days a week, 10 hours a day.”

As the project nears completion, the library is also participating in the East Hampton Town Older Adult Survey, making available a questionnaire that will be used to compile data on services, programs, and activities for older adults. The survey can also be completed online at easthamptonsurvey.com.

A preliminary assessment of the surveys received reveals that a sizable segment of the town’s senior citizen population lives alone, said Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez of the East Hampton Town board, and that many do not drive at night. The library, Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said, is among the essential services the town should deliver to senior citizens, and the survey has spurred discussion of town-provided transportation to it.

Mr. Fabiszak, who is representing local libraries in the effort, “has been tremendous,” Ms. Burke-Gonzalez said. “We’ve opened up communication that hadn’t been there before. It’s going to help us with programs and services.”

If you read the police blotter, and who doesn’t, you will have noticed that there is plenty of crime in the Hamptons. Recently there was a home invasion in Southampton Village in which a woman was stabbed. An arsonist set fire to a $34 million mansion in Bridgehampton. A Springs heroin addict was just sent to prison after pleading guilty to burglarizing more than a dozen houses. And two weeks ago one man attacked another with a machete on a quiet suburban street in Springs.

It’s not like the old days when a dog was all you needed, and you hid your key in a fake rock. Though there still are holdouts. “Some people who have been out here for generations do not even possess keys to their own houses,” said Chris Chapin of Douglas Elliman. In other words, they leave their doors unlocked. “Because we are on a peninsula, we have few transients.”

On the other hand, J.P. Foster, a dispatcher with the East Hampton Village police and an agent at Town and Country Real Estate, said, “You can never be too careful.” He points out that all new houses being built today are equipped with alarm systems that can alert homeowners to all sorts of hairy situations from burglars, to fire, to low temperatures, and moisture. “Around here pipes bursting is the biggest problem,” he said, especially for those with second homes who aren’t here much of the time. “They need security systems and caretakers to check on things from time to time.”

Curtis Cole, owner of Systems Design Company, a Southampton “home automation” company, said he is “shocked that a lot of people still hide keys and are fairly lackadaisical while not out here.” He is also “amazed how easily people let companies in and out” of their houses. “A lot of thefts are crimes of opportunity,” he said, explaining that sometimes workers might take something “they think wouldn’t be missed” while on the job, or return later. Often even caretakers leave doors open to allow for plumbers, electricians, whomever, to get in and out. He cites an example of audio-visual personnel placing about 15 plasma TVs in the basement to allow floor sandersdunnit? Floor sanders? A.V. workers? They may never know.

The good news for all of us is that the technology until recently only available to the high end has gotten affordable. Most systems are integrated through smartphones, so you can “get a call on your iPhone and see image of who’s at the front door” . . . as long as you have a camera mounted. “You can let them in and lock up after,” said Mr. Cole.

Security systems on the South Fork range from a simple alarm system to armed bodyguards. Think: Ronald Perelman’s estate in East Hampton.

Bellringer Security in Southampton offers a basic system, installation $399, where it places alarms for detection of smoke, low temperatures, and intruders, for which it wires up to four windows and three doors. Doors are especially important. “According to F.B.I. statistics, 83 percent of break-ins occur through doors,” said Ed Thompson, the firm’s president. To supplement protection, Bellringer can add motion detectors to key traffic areas such as hallways and stairs. He estimates that about 20 percent of houses on the South Fork have security systems.

Another common security procedure is the use of infrared cameras to detect would-be intruders before they get to the house perimeter. Out here, no surprise, the movement that shows up on monitors is mostly deer. Asset protection is more specific. An item of value such as a work of art gets wired so that if it’s moved a racket will ensue and scare the bejesus out of the potential pilferer.

At the “super high end is manned security,” said Mr. Cole. This is where security personnel sit in an office on the estate watching monitors, whether the owners are in residence or not. “A lot of these people are concerned about someone sticking a bomb on the property when they’re not there and having it go off when they are.” What are also popular in the estates of high-profile residents are background checks on anyone who has access to their property.

Both Bellringer and Systems Design provide both guards and monitoring from central stations, which are manned 24/7. Human monitors call either police or owners, depending on the legitimacy of the threat. Which leads us to false alarms. “You’re going to have new cleaning people who don’t now how to use them,” said Mr. Thompson. “One of our specialties is to educate the customer on how to prevent them.” But still, many false alarms are called in to the police. “All municipalities have fines,” said Mr. Thompson. “And every time there’s a false alarm the fines increase. In a short time you could be paying a thousand or more.” At Bellringer a monitoring fee starts at $34 a month. Customers can also pay $180 in advance for three guard responses, or around $600 a year plus a fee for a guard visit.

Theft of copper gutters is “the biggest problem out here,” said Mr. Thompson. He has recently begun to install special weatherproof contacts that will generate an alarm when a gutter is ripped off the facade.

Besides alerting owners to intruders, security systems also work well as deterrents. “No thief wants to get involved with a security system,” said Mr. Thompson. “It could mean the end of his career.”