30 Police officers going to Northwest Fresno as part of operation

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- An operation for Fresno Police's Northwest District just got stronger.

Effective this week, 30 more officers are heading there to go after criminals and get to know residents-specifically in neighborhoods or hot spots known for violent crime.

"We go and saturate some areas making a lot of positive contacts with the community and take any enforcement action that we come across during that operation detail," Sgt. Chris Serrano said.

It's community policing, and it's making a difference in neighborhoods like one near Shaw and Holt, where Serrano says there's been a dramatic reduction in gang-activity and violent crime.

"It was pretty uncommon to see young children just playing out in the front yard, especially as the night falls, you definitely wouldn't see any small children within that area," he said.

Sgt. Serrano led a group of officers into this neighborhood near Fedora and Blackstone, where they spoke with the owner of a home recently shot up by gang members. A tip from another resident in that neighborhood then led them to the Manchester Motel, where officers knocked on the door of a room possibly connected to drug and firearm sales.

In the end, all they could is knock, and talk with the man in the room next door. But the bottom line is that they connected with community members and received valuable intelligence.

"This operation kind of allows those officers to get out of their cars, make personal contact with the community and members living within the affected areas, and find out exactly what's occurring in the neighborhoods," Serrano said.

For Serrano, it's going back to the tradition of community policing. The operation officially started about a month ago.

It will go through the summer and then be reevaluated by Chief Dyer.