St. Petersburg police are saturating a neighborhood with a beefed-up presence to battle drugs and prostitution.
Police raided a home in the Freemont Terrace neighborhood last month and are returning to the area with a mobile command bus. Authorities are hopeful the presence will help the neighborhood's residents reclaim the area from criminals.
Authorities will set up shop in the area for about a week in hopes that homeowners will feel comfortable approaching officers and tell them what is happening in the neighborhood.
The mobile command bus will be at Freemont Terrace South and 28th Street S, in the middle of a neighborhood police say is plagued with drugs and prostitution.
Twelve people were taken into custody at a drug house on 35th Street N during the Oct. 21 raid. That bust took place after numerous complaints from homeowners.
This new community policing effort is something Mayor Rick Kriseman has been calling for. New Police Chief Anthony Holloway and staff are responding with these types of neighborhood efforts.
Police will not be going door-to-door while in the neighborhood, instead allowing homeowners and residents to come to them.