Sheryl Murphy had an idea — to use ice cream to entice others in her Ewa by Gentry community to join in a newly formed neighborhood security program.

The idea was considered worthy enough by the folks at San Franciso-based Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream to award Murphy and her neighbors one of its 1,500 ice-cream block parties — part of this summer's Dreyer's Slow Churn-ed Neighborhood Salute.

Murphy and her husband, Matt, are inviting about 100 of their neighbors on Kauoha Way, Kauoha Place and Kauoha Street to the party, which is scheduled for sometime this summer in their subdivision.

And yes, Murphy intends to have a neighborhood watch sign-up sheet near the pints, spoons, scoopers and toppings.

The response has been good. Neighbors she'd never even met offered to bring cones and toppings when she told them that the party package didn't include such items.

Prompted by a brazen burglary in the neighborhood last year, the Murphys and three other households out of about 35 on the three streets joined a neighborhood watch program earlier this year.

Nancy Jacobson, who coordinates the neighborhood watch, said team members once a month wear yellow shirts and organize a walk or some other event to help establish the group's presence.

It's ready to expand, she said. "We need it now," Jacobson said. "We're hoping to get more people interested so we can get more people than just a handful show up when we do a walk."

Murphy said, "Even if (Dreyer's) didn't award us an ice cream party, at some point, we would have gotten something together for the neighborhood."

Officer Antone Pacheco, the Honolulu Police Department's community policing team coordinator for the 'Ewa-Kapolei area, said burglaries at Ocean Pointe and Ewa By Gentry peaked last year but dropped after a highly publicized awareness campaign.

In recent months, however, burglaries and car break-ins are again on the rise in the two 'Ewa communities, leading police Maj. Michael Moses to once again push for beefed-up community policing tactics.

The Murphys' ice cream party is actually one of eight Dreyer's has awarded to Hawai'i families this summer.

For contest winners living on the Mainland, the dozen cartons of ice cream for each get-together are packed in dry ice and sent directly to the homes, said Kim Goeller-Johnson, Dreyer's senior manager of media relations. Hawai'i winners are given gift certificates.