Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim announced Friday that police are beefing up patrols at several key hot spots around the city in an effort to reduce violence in local housing projects.

Greene Homes Apartment Complex on Highland Avenue is just one of the places where the new patrols will be active.

The new patrols will be in the form of walking details.

The main point police want to get across is that they will be going inside the apartment buildings, where a lot of residents say they really need the protection but have not been getting it in the past.

Mayor Ganim stood with Police Chief AJ Perez and officials from Park City Communities, the local housing authority, in announcing a new partnership between them that will bring in $160,000 in a federal grant to make the patrols possible.

Police say the grant money will also help the city make improvements to the exteriors of public housing, including new doors, walkways and security cameras.

One Trumbull Gardens resident says she's excited about the effort.

"It is wonderful," says Karen Bracey, Trumbull Gardens Association president. "We have been fighting for this extra security for two years since the killing of Savonie McNeil and to have what we've been needing and wanting is a godsend."

Chief Perez demonstrated how the walking patrol will work, though he held back many of the exact details as a security measure.