Watch Schemes

Farm Watch has been created to encourage those in rural areas to combat farm-related crime.

The scheme allows Suffolk Police to work closely with farmers, warning them about the latest crime trends and what to look out for.

The main aims of Farm Watch are to:

• Reduce the opportunity for crime by creating a spirit of co-operation amongst the farming communities and the police.
• Offer crime reduction measures to improve security of main farm building and surrounding areas.
• Make farmers aware of the possibilities of crime that could occur within their area.
• Create a fast and effective method of sharing information between scheme members and the police.
• To assist in providing Counter-Terrorism advice to farmers with regard to the secure storage of chemicals and suspicious vehicles that may be stored in unused farm buildings.
• Reduce the fear of crime in the farming community.

Farms are encouraged to participate in the Police Connect communication network. This provides a contact point so farmers or their staff can be notified immediately if there is any information which may affect the security of their land, buildings, equipment or animals. The scheme is free and you can complete the application form online to join.

Suffolk Church Watch is a scheme set up to enable the police to work in partnership with custodians of religious buildings.

The Church Watch Scheme helps to keep Suffolk’s churches and religious establishments safe and free from crime.

If you represent a Suffolk church or religious building and would like information relating to your area of interest, you can join Police Connect free of charge and receive messages by text, voicemail or email.  

You can also contact a specialist Rural Crime Officer for advice on 101.

The neighbourhood watch scheme is about getting people together with their neighbours to combat local crime.

Suffolk Neighbourhood Watch scheme helps to make our neighbourhoods more secure and our communities feel safer.

The main objectives of Neighbourhood Watch are to:

• prevent and reduce crime in our neighbourhoods
• provide reassurance to people in our communities
• provide appropriate and up-to-date crime reduction advice
• encourage members of our communities to be alert and watchful in looking after themselves and others
• act as a channel of communication by passing on information from the police to the community and from the community to the police to help prevent crime.

The Suffolk Neighbourhood Watch Association (SNWA) can give you details on how to join an existing scheme or help set up a new one if there isn't one in your area.