BATON ROUGE - Residents who live in Mid-City are looking to crack down on neighborhood crime.

The BR Hope Zone initiative includes neighborhoods like Istrouma, Midtown, Eden Park, Greenville Extension, Smiley Heights and Melrose East. At the BR Hope Zone meeting Monday night, neighbors shared their concerns with officers and attempted to come up with solutions to implement in the community.

"We're not going to grow bitter in this community, we are going to start getting better and better," said one concerned resident.

During the round-table discussion, residents suggested ways to combat crime in their neighborhoods. The movement initially started with the BR Hope Zone, which works to reduce crime by collecting data and statistics.

Law enforcement officers in attendance urged residents to be the 'eyes and ears' for their community. They also suggested getting to know the officers in their neighborhoods.

Residents spent their time at the meeting learning about crime statistics, jotting down notes and learning how they can play a role in reporting issues to the right officials.

The group said they do not plan to give up on the crime infested areas, and work to find a solution has just started.

"We are coming together, and we are going to build this team with the residents.. .the business owners, the pastors, the churches; all of us are going to make up this big team," said Pearl who lives in the Istrouma community.

The BR Hope Zone holds its community crime meetings every first Monday of the month.