Captain Ray Hall of the Lansing Police Department readied the troops Friday as dozens of police officers waited to hear the mission.

"We will be targeting those young people in the community," Hall said.

It's called PEACE -- or the police enforcement and community engagement program. It's funded by a $500,000 federal grant. Friday was the first step.

"It's aggressive professional policing designed to get the thugs off the streets," he said.

News Ten was invited along for part of the trip. The first stop was at a suspicious car with possible drugs inside. As the officers checked into the man's background, Captain Hall introduced himself to the community.

After the man got the all-clear, it's back to the road. We didn't get too far, when the officers noticed two men walking across the street.

After a quick check, it turned out the man has a small bag of marijuana. Since it was individually packaged, he will most likely be charged with possession with intent to sell...a felony.

There were six other arrests in our presence just like that one.

But Captain Hall wanted to reiterate, that this program is not just about arresting people, there's a second component to it too.

"Those first time offenders, those who are not yet not hard core into the business, we plan to get them into a mentoring program, that if they complete, the charges will be dropped," he said.

A third component is to send in the Boys and Girls Club to offer alternatives for the young people to do other than drugs.

It's about taking back the streets he said, and changing a cycle.

The program will last for two years, and there will be plenty of nights like these in the future.

Once the program ends, Hall says they plan to "give back the neighborhood" to the residents. Hopefully then, he said, it will be a safer place.