BATON ROUGE - Officers with the Baton Rouge Police Department took to the streets Thursday to make connections with the community in the wake of a surge in crime throughout the city.

The anti-crime walk began on the corner of South Blvd and Eddie Robinson Senior Drive - an area police say is statistically more prone to crime. Just this month two shootings happened along Eddie Robbinson Sr. Drive.

Officers, along with other state officials, took a hands-on approach to tackle crime by giving out flyers with information about CrimeStoppers, encouraging the public to speak up.

"Just trying to be boots on the ground and be visible and reach a hand out so hopefully a hand will be reached back to us from the community," said Detective Gayton Montgomery with BRPD. "I think the community has to trust us, and we have to trust the community, as well. And we have to trust them with the information they give us. We have to do our job. We have to follow up on that information, and that's what we have been doing."

"We go to take control over our community, take back our community, and let folks know to take that mess somewhere else. Anywhere but here," said District 10 councilmember Carolyn Coleman.

It's the first step on a long list of new ways law enforcement is cracking down on tough issues, along with the use of drones and partnerships with state and federal entities.