A pair of eyes peers out from behind handcuffs on the Ranch Watch sign that Leslie Brown has owned for about 20 years. It reads “watched by neighbors, patrolled by deputies,” and Brown has multiple similar signs posted around her Log Hill Mesa property line.

The Ranch Watch program was created by retired Rio Blanco County Sheriff Phil Stubblefield to protect rural communities from crime, and has been adopted by landowners and communities in Colorado including Archu...