How Farmers are Crushing Crime With Facebook

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.”