Farmwatch
What is Farm Watch?
It is a partnership between the farming community and the police to encourage vigilance and communication. Intelligence is a vital tool in crime reduction and members of the public can assist by providing information no matter how trivial it may seem. If a pattern arises as a result of the information received we can then act upon this and address the issue. By communicating with each other we can help to prevent many crimes from happening in the first place, thus making the community a safer and more crime free area.
There are many benefits to being part of the Farm Watch scheme and these include:
- Being signed up to our Crime Ring system which enables us to communicate local issues to members quickly and efficiently.
- Where there are recurrent problems we can work together to tackle these by setting up operations etc.
- Reduction in crime and the fear of crime impacting on the community.
- Information sharing between the police and Farm Watch members in relation to specific incidents.
- Vigilant members who in partnership with the police will create a safer environment.
The aims of Farm Watch are to:
- Reduce Opportunities for crime and vandalism
- Strengthen community spirit so that everyone plays their part in protecting their property.
- Report of suspicious incidents as they occur.
- Improve two-way communication between farmers and the police.
- To introduce early warning systems in farming and rural areas.
- Reduce the fear of crime.
Remember that we would never encourage you to put yourself at risk, but to observe, make a note of descriptive details and phone the police.
Crime Ring
This is a free computerised message system which we use to circulate messages of suspicious incidents, crime trends and crime prevention information to the telephones of members. Details of members are secure within this system under the Data Protection Act.
Useful Websites
UK Horsewatch Alliance
Farmers using Ammonium Nitrate Fertilisers
National Farmers Union
Useful Contact Numbers
Durham Police 0345 60 60 365
Durham County Council Help Desk 0191 3834567
Countryside Dept 0191 3833239
Country Parks/Railway Walks 0191 3833594
Environment Agency 0800 807060
DEFRA 0845 9335577
RSPCA 0300 1234 999
