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Starting Wednesday, items bought and sold on Craigslist, Facebook, eBay and other online sites may be exchanged in the public parking lot at police headquarters, the department announced.
The 25 Hecker Ave. location can be provided to the other party when setting up the sale, said police.
Any GPS should direct the person to the department's front door, according to police.
The designated safe “Internet Purchase Exchange Location” is in the parking lot on the south side of the building and is marked with a sign.
This area is monitored 24 hours a day by video surveillance and is recorded, according to police.
The Darien Police Department location will not be used to make illegal transactions of dangerous or deadly weapons or any other dangerous materials, said police.
In addition, department employees will not be used to witness or be a part of these transactions, according to police. Police are just providing a safe location to conduct these transactions.
Darien Police suggests the following precautions when buying and selling online:
- 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.
- Use the Darien Police Department “Internet Purchase Exchange Location” created to provide a safe place to make and document these types of transactions
This location gives people in the community a protected place to exchange internet purchases and provides a more secure alternative than meeting a stranger at a private residence, said police.
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