It's all a matter of perspective. Bring someone from an affluent, low-crime city who is unfamiliar with Detroit to Midtown and they may be petrified.

But Sharde Jones, who lives in west Detroit and commutes to Wayne State University, says it's the safest place around.

The 22-year criminal justice major has been spending a lot of time at Wayne State University's campus and said she perceives crime declining.

Her perceptions correspond with what Wayne State Police Chief Anthony Holt says the numbers reflect.

Wayne State University Police Chief is pleased.

He said, although he will not have exact figures until Thursday, crimes reported on the Campus of Wayne State University and the surrounding neighborhoods his agency patrols decreased 42 percent compared to those at the same time in 2011.

He said the decline is the result of proactive police work that involves two-hour, bi-weekly crime statistic analysis meetings to map out strategies to attack "hot spots."

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.

In an effort to offset depleted Detroit Police Department patrols, Wayne State officers increasingly fan out into the neighborhoods surrounding the campus to create law enforcement buffer with the intent of stopping or discouraging crime before it makes its way to campus.

The success is in part due to aggressive proactive and collaborative policing, Holt says.

Officers accompany other agencies on absconder sweeps, in-home parole and probation visits and work with the Wayne County Tether Unit.

iPhone theft is a problem that Holt says is nationwide right now and has permeated Wayne State University.

After several thefts occurred on campus, the Wayne State University police worked with tether monitoring employees to identify a suspect who was in the area during the time of each of the thefts, Holt said.

"Every time we have a problem, this person is in the area based on tether," Holt said. "Then we sort of set up a dragnet and he walked right into it."

Holt said the bi-weekly meetings are crucial for the success of public safety. He said, for instance, if we see an uptick crime in the Woodbridge Neighborhood, which we patrol, we'll maybe dedicate a unit to a 6-7 block area and put some plain clothes officers on the ground there until it subsides.

They also hone in on any parole absconders and help swiftly arrest violators.

"It's pretty good; not much crime," said Jones, who plans to graduate this summer and work as a corrections officer in Oakland County or in Detroit's juvenile system. "We do have less crime than any of the other parts around."

The most prevalent crime on campus that Jones said she hears about it larceny and burglary.

"Through my four or five years, I've never been robbed," she adds.

She attributes the elevated safety in Midtown to the Wayne State University Police Department.

"They respond much faster and come much quicker than Detroit police," she said.