Safe Places for Meeting Online Sellers
May 6th, 2015 Brian HerzogMy brother told me about this a few months ago, but I forgot about it until I saw a local news article this week.
Police Departments nationwide have been designating themselves as "Safe Zones" for the face-to-face part of online sales. If you buy or sell something online, you can use the local Police Station as the place to meet the person to exchange the merchandise.
What a great idea. Of course, my next thought was, "hey, libraries could do that too." And of course they could, but Police Stations clearly are a better choice. As the article about the Chelmsford Police points out,
The lobby inside of the Chelmsford Police Station is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is equipped with surveillance cameras that constantly record activity in the station. This added security provides a level of protection that most public meeting places cannot.
Besides, libraries often have rules about using the library for commerce - although most of those rules exist in a gray area.
And two more links from the above-linked Lifehacker article:
- safetradestations.com - find a local Safe Zone near you
- NPR | Police Departments Open Up "Safe Lots" For Craigslist Transactions
I don't personally do a lot of online buying and selling that requires meeting the person. However, I'm sure this is something that will become more common in the future, and it's nice to know this service exists.