The Darien Police Department is offering up its parking lot as a safe place to exchange goods bought and sold on Craigslist, Facebook, eBay and other online sites.
Darien police recently put up this sign showing where exchanges can be watched by police cameras.
Starting today, citizens who are purchasing or selling something to a stranger online can meet up in the police department parking lot to conduct their business.
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— This announcement is from Darien Police Department.
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We now have a dedicated area in our public parking lot for on‐line buyers and sellers to meet and make the exchanges. Upon making your transaction arrangements, provide the other party with the Darien Police Department address of 25 Hecker Ave Darien, CT 06820. Any GPS should take you directly to our front door.
Closer view of the sign
The designated safe “Internet Purchase Exchange Location” is in the parking lot on the south side of the building and is marked with a newly installed sign. This area is monitored 24 hours a day by video surveillance and is recorded.
The Darien Police Department location will not be used to make illegal transactions of dangerous or deadly weapons or any other dangerous materials. In addition, department employees will not be used to witness or be a part of these transactions. We are just providing a safe location to conduct your transactions.
Some additional information for on‐line purchase transactions that you need to know:
- Only use websites you are familiar with
- Never provide personal information over the internet
- Never purchase anything online using your credit card from a site that does not have an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
- When taking photos, utilize the cut and paste method from a Word document. This will make it harder for someone to utilize GPS location programs to find where you live.
- Take a photo of just the item you are selling. Items in the background can represent additional targets for the would‐be criminal
- Ask a lot of questions
- Don’t go alone and show up early
- Finally, use the Darien Police Department “Internet Purchase Exchange Location” created to provide a safe place to make and document these types of transactions
Darien is one of the safest communities in our state and we are always looking for ways to make it even safer. This location gives people in our community a protected place to exchange internet purchases and provides a more secure alternative than meeting a stranger at a private residence.