BATON ROUGE - Members of the Forest Oak and Windsor Place Crime Prevention and Beautification Board met Saturday with law enforcement to discuss upcoming changes to the neighborhood, all of which aim to strengthen the fight against violent crime.

The group has been working on crime prevention for the past eight months. Now that they've received funding, they're looking to increase measures in crime hotspots throughout their neighborhood.

Several license plate readers are already set up throughout the area, and they now have plans to add a lot more.

Their target area spans between Florida Boulevard and Choctaw Drive, and Sherwood Forest to Flannery Road, with residential areas making up much of the region.

Since the group was formed, a BRPD patrol officer has been assigned to the area and monitors frequently.

Getting to this stage has been a process. Pennie Johnson, co-chair of the group, says the district lost its homeowner association back in 2005, and it wasn't reintroduced until 2015. During that time, a noticeable increase in violent crime took over the area, with some residents saying they had to get used to hearing gunshots every night.

The board has many projects lined up for the future, but their efforts are already working to get justice served.

On Nov. 28, 18-year-old Eriel Tyson was arrested and charged with first-degree robbery for her ties to several burglaries in the area, including some in the prevention district. The neighborhood patrol officer said one of the board's license plate readers helped authorities to locate her.

With funding secured, 20 additional license plate readers will be placed in some of the worst crime hot spots in the district as early as January. When those are put up, they'll also install around 15 to 20 crime cameras. In addition, they'll also be adding signs within the community to better identify the districts.