A new approach of community policing in Washington D.C.

In southeast D.C., crime is high, and officers have long struggled to bring rates down. But a new strategy of community policing seems to be having a positive effect.

A restructuring of staff has given each officer a smaller area to cover so they get to know the residents and streets better. There are weekly community meetings and the area's assistant police chief helped start a program that brings officers to the National Museum of African American History and Culture to help them understand the neighborhoods they're patrolling.

The early results are promising. In Washington Highlands and Bellevue, for example, robberies are down 70 percent from a year ago.