Tom Walsh retires from Ottawa Neighborhood Watch after more than 20 years

Officials were not quite sure what year the Ottawa Neighborhood Watch program started but no matter what year between 1993 and before, Tom Walsh was probably part of it.

The 85-year-old attended his last meeting as a member Tuesday at the Reddick Public Library, where he shared one of his many stories about his years helping the police make Ottawa a safer place for the community. That was his goal when he joined.

“I just felt a need,” he said. “I saw what Mike (Dougherty) was trying to do and attended some meetings in relationship to it being noticed in the newspaper. That’s what spurred me to that point.”

Walsh said his biggest contribution over the years was printing off and sharing the sex offender list with the other Neighborhood Watch members so they had an idea who was living where in an effort to keep children safe.

That’s just one of many accomplishments of the Neighborhood Watch over the years.

Dougherty said Walsh served as a captain from 2010 through 2022, stepping up to fill a vacancy and sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience after being a La Salle County Board member.

“Tom, you’ve got the stories all the time as you did tonight,” Dougherty said. “The knowledge you have is incredible.”

Ottawa Police Chief Brent Roalson and Captain Kyle Booras both attended as well, along with retired Police Chief Dale Baxter, who played a pivotal role in helping the Neighborhood Watch develop into what it is today.

Roalson said the idea of a neighborhood watch has changed significantly since social media became a factor as now it exists in multiple different ways.

“It reflects what society’s become,” Roalson said. “People are less apt to come together. They’re more individualized and compartmentalized, but there’s cameras everywhere and there are a lot of people giving you information collectively as a group.”

Dougherty said the Neighborhood Watch grew when there was an obvious drug house on the West Side and his first meeting gathering had more than 100 people inside Lincoln School Gym, which led Roalson to point out that it’s usually one instance that upsets the apple cart.

“Drug houses are a common one,” Baxter said. “There have been cases solved with tips from neighbors or leads from an active investigation that help bring the investigation to an end quicker because of license plates or identity information given.”

Also receiving plaques Tuesday were Kim and Ron Glover, who have been captains since 2017 and MaryAnn and Bob Harding, who have been longtime supporters of the Neighborhood Watch.