The Polk Museum of Art at Florida Southern College is working with the Lakeland Police Department to start a neighborhood watch program for the East Lake Morton area.
The first meeting is Dec. 19 at 6:30 p.m. at the museum. It is open to area residents and business owners, as well as members of First United Methodist Church and parents of students at Lakeland Montessori Middle School.
“Hurricane Irma helped neighbors see the value of looking out for each other when no one had electric, and the neighborhood watch program is a natural extension of that,” said Gregory Mills, the museum’s director of security, operations and technology.
Mills approached the Lakeland Police Department with the idea of starting the neighborhood watch program. He has lived and worked in this neighborhood for more than 20 years.
The East Lake Morton area boundaries are from East Palmetto Street north to East Lime Street, and from Lake Morton Drive to Michigan Avenue. The area encompasses the Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland Public Library, Mister Fish, Red Door Lakeland, First United Methodist Church, Stahl & Associates Insurance and the Junior League of Greater Lakeland.
The museum added 24 outdoor security cameras in their parking lot over the summer to help prevent crime.
For more information about the East Lake Morton Area Neighborhood Watch program, please call Gregory Mills: 688-7743, ext. 243, or LPD Crime Prevention Practitioner
Gwen Stanislowski: (863) 834-3974.
The Polk Museum of Art’s address is 800 E. Palmetto St.