DETROIT, MI

— There's no question: Well-occupied residential areas experience fewer crimes, says Wayne State University Police Chief Anthony Holt.

But, he said, that's not the reason Wayne State University police recorded a 38 percent reduction between 2008 and 2011.

The whole of Detroit reported a 16 percent decline during the same time frame.

The Wayne State University Police Department patrols a fluctuating 6-mile plus area that spans from 14th in the west to Interstate 75 in the east; and from Mack in the south to Seward in the north.

by Chris Christoff titled, "In Detroit, Urban Flight in Reverse," was published on July 26 and focused on an influx of new residents to Detroit's Midtown neighborhood, located north of downtown, in relation to the crime trends.

It indicated the reversed urban flight might be partly to thank for the above-average crime reduction.

Ninety-five percent of Midtown's 5,884 housing units are occupied and 26 businesses moved to the area during the last two years, the story says, according to Midtown Detroit, an economic development organization.

"The bottom line: An influx of new residents and businesses in a revitalized area near Detroit’s downtown resulted in a 38 percent drop in crime."

Chief Holt said it's a symbiotic relationship — as crime lessens, residents increase; as residents increase, crime lessens — but said "aggressive policing" is really what set the change in motion.

Midtown Detroit Inc. President Sue Mosey, dubbed the "Mayor of Midtown,"

in February that Midtown had 24,000 residents, a number she hopes increases by 10,000 over the next decade.

"The more people you have in the area, the more visibility and fewer crimes," Holt said. "But is that the reason there was a 38 percent drop? Absolutely not; it's the increased police presence."

Holt rattled off a number of initiatives his department has instituted over the last several years to increase the effectiveness of the department.

Many of the strategies include collaboration with other agencies, including the Detroit Police Department, hospitals, the Wayne County Sheriff's Department, the Department of Corrections, the Wayne County Prosecutors Office and others.

Holt said representatives from those agencies meet every two weeks to discuss crime statistics, address "hot spots" where crime increases are occurring and merge strategies to quell crime.

Wayne State University police collaborate with Department of Corrections officers to conduct parole absconder sweeps —"that's made a tremendous difference," Holt said — and patrol with hospital employees to identify residents on the streets in need of mental or medical care.

Police aggressively target panhandlers outside party stores and anyone loitering near ATM machines or bus tops, Holt said. Officers regularly patrol on foot along Woodward and other main roads.

The department utilizes high-definition cameras stationed along Woodward and Mack, but unlike some other departments that only look at their camera footage after crimes occur, Holt said the department "carefully monitors" the cameras at all times.

"I don't know what good it does looking at someone breaking into a car two days later," he said.

The department's aggressive and effective tactics have led residents and businesses to gain faith in the department, the chief said.

Of 58 arrests made in the 2nd District — where Wayne State University is located — during the last two weeks, 45 were conducted by Wayne State University police, Holt said.

"Just ask the local (businesses) on Woodward Avenue who do they call when they have a problem and how quick is the police response," Holt said."People are not going to move into an area if there's a big" crime problem and slow police response.

RELATED: