How Farmers are Crushing Crime With Facebook
This rural community’s gone online to fight farm crime.
How Farmers are Crushing Crime With Facebook
This rural community’s gone online to fight farm crime.
This colorful description, written by an almond grower in Hilmar, California, represents one of many posts that populate the Facebook page of Hilmar Farm Watch, this agricultural community’s answer to urban and suburban Neighborhood Watch programs. Just five years ago, the thinly populated town was an easy mark for criminals, who found its sleepy back roads conducive to theft.
“Copper wire, calves, tractors – you name it, they grabbed it,” says local farmer Charlene Borrelli, who took matters into her own hands, organizing an email tree to spread word and photos of criminals and stolen property. “There were about 40 of us emailing back and forth,” Borrelli recalls. “Then we joined Facebook in 2011, and everything skyrocketed.”
Now 3,000 members strong, Hilmar Farm Watch has helped recoup tens of thousands of dollars in purloined loot by posting pictures and serial numbers. “We’re not vigilantes; we work with law enforcement,” says Borrelli. “But now criminals know we mean business.”
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I have been home all day with the flu/cold. My grand-daughter came at 8:30 pm to help with garbage detail. She saw that her brother’s car’s door and trunk were open. His car is here while he is at college. The neighbor said he noticed it this morning. No one saw anything and it appeared nothing was taken so a report was not made. It just remained open all day. FYI.