The perception of an increase in crime in the area is becoming more common among residents in south St. Louis.

Some south city residents feel crime is an increasing problem in their neighborhoods. But, is crime really on the rise in south St. Louis? 5 On Your Side took a detailed look at the crime stats.

The perception of an increase in crime in the area is becoming more common among residents in south St. Louis. It's one of the reasons Steve Butz created the "Cops Walking a Beat" program in Holly Hills. The effort pulls together money from its residents to pay cops to patrol their neighborhood.

"Sometimes perception is reality and it takes on a life of its own," Butz said.

Butz believed the program is working. More than 300 residents have signed up to help and he’s hoping more join.

"Crime is down in our neighborhood," he said.

While crime stats from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department show crimes are down in the neighborhood, some residents are worried about an increase in crimes they haven't seen before like carjackings and shootings.

"That’s a big change for this neighborhood,” Butz said. “That put people on edge and that has made them very fearful."

But here's what the numbers show about an even bigger area of south city: Crime from January to September 2017 is higher in 11 South St. Louis neighborhoods (Dutchtown, Lindenwood Park, McKinley Heights, Tower Grove East, Benton Park West, Fox Park, Shaw, St. Louis Hills, Patch, Southwest Garden and Bevo Mill) than it was last year, but in eight of those neighborhoods that trend is reversing. In the last three months, crime has actually gone down in those neighborhoods where it increased or stayed the same in 2016.

In the Tower Grove East neighborhood, where crime is up for the year, the number of crimes fell 68 percent over the last three months. In Fox Park, crime in September of this year fell 60% compared to September 2016. The neighborhood saw fewer than half of the past year’s number of larcenies. In McKinley Heights, crime in September for this year increased 50% compared to September 2016. This increase came from higher numbers of burglaries, larcenies, and vehicle thefts. When it comes to the overall numbers for the area, the data we found said crime increased 13% from July to September last year. During the same time this year, it’s down 17%.

"As compared to some other areas of the city, this really is a very safe area and we have to be careful one off instances [don’t] define an entire area."

So, the challenge is to not only change the perception, but actually continue making south city neighborhoods safer.

"If you are feeling unsafe, let’s talk about that. Let’s talk about the things in our community so you do feel safe,” Green said.

She went on to say things can be done to make people feel safer: “Creating walkable communities, where you have people who are out on the streets, 24 hours a day walking in the neighborhood have eyes on the streets. All of those are things that you can do to build a strong community and combat crime.”