Anybody wanting to do bad things in the subdivisions of Westchester, Windsor, Abney and Magnolia in southern Slidell better be careful, because residents will be watching.

At least that is what the Slidell Police Department and the Westchester Homeowners Association are hoping.

Wednesday, the association with the help of the SPD and Department of public works put up 20 signs around the subdivisions declaring the area a member of Neighborhood Watch.

Slidell Assistant Police Chief Jesse Simon, left, with Neighborhood Watch Coordinator Richard Reardon and Westchester Homeowner Association President Tom Cearley. (Staff Photo by Erik Sanzenbach)

Currently it is the first and only Neighborhood Watch in Slidell, and Assistant Police Chief Jesse Simon is hoping that more subdivisions in the city will take the initiative and create their own Neighborhood Watch programs.

The Westchester subdivision had started up a Neighborhood Watch before Hurricane Katrina. However, the storm blew away most of the signs, and the process of rebuilding kind of put the program on the back burner. The homeowners association for the area also lapsed into disarray.

But as the population in the area changed, and more people started moving in, the original residents became a bit alarmed at all the changes. Residents Tom Cearley and Richard Reardon decided something had to be done. Not only was there an increase in crime, but also there were lots of code violations in the subdivisions. New residents were not taking care of their properties, and the area began to look shabby.

Cearley, a 30-year resident of Windsor said he and Reardon started to talk to residents and convince them to restart the homeowners association.

“Code enforcement was having problems. The place looked horrible, and that was a real catalyst for us,” Cearley said. “Rather than roll over, we decided to be proactive.”

That was 10 months ago. Today, Simon said the Westchester Homeowners Association is one of the most active and biggest in Slidell.

Reardon is the Neighborhood Watch Coordinator. He sent off to the national headquarters for teaching materials and to get advice. Neighborhood Watch has been around since the 1970s, and Reardon said the program has one simple philosophy.

“It’s a simple thing, just know your neighbors,” Reardon said.

He organized block captains, who go out and tell residents on their block about the program and how they can help. Everybody keeps an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, and they communicate with each other.

“Awareness is the key,” Cearley said.

Reardon said Neighborhood Watch is not just about stopping crime, but other things like code violations, illegal parking, unkempt lawns, trash in yards.

Simon is amazed at how well the program is working. He said that people from the area call and e-mail the SPD and police respond quickly.

“Potentially it makes the police department bigger by adding more eyes and ears to inform us of what is going on,” Simon said. He attends all the association’s meetings and brings along the total number of police calls that have been made in the subdivision.

Cearley said it has improved the area’s relationship with the police, and he is amazed at how fast they respond to calls in the area. The program seems to be working. Simon said the crime statistics have gone down in the area. Cearley and Reardon said that with the help of the Slidell Permits Department, the number of code violations have also decreased.

When the association decided to replace the old signs, they went to the city. It turned out that Public Works had budgeted money for Neighborhood Watch signs, and Wednesday, 20 brand-new signs were put up in the four subdivisions at a cost of $400.

Cearley and Reardon want to help other neighborhoods and suggest that homeowners associations go to their Web site www. wamonline.org, and they can see how to organize a Neighborhood Watch program.

“This is a community effort,” Reardon said. “And it does bring people together.”

Simon hopes that Westchester can set an example for other neighborhoods in Slidell.

“It would make me 100 percent happy if every homeowners association did what Westchester does,” Simon said. “It gets more communities involved. It’s a winning situation.”