By Lara Fominoff @fomsy1 on Twitter

Lethbridge Police create ‘safe zone’ for online transaction completion and custody exchanges

Sep 6, 2017 | 3:13 PM

LETHBRIDGE – If you’re buying or selling anything and need to complete the transaction in person, or if you’re dropping off your children for your ‘ex’ to pick up, and you want a safe place to do it, Lethbridge Police have created a space just for those types of scenarios.
 
The area is made up of two regular sized parking spots, located in front of the LPS Headquarters at 135 1 Avenue South, that have special signage and are located directly in front of surveillance cameras.
 
Cst. Steve Baker says because there are so many online transactions going on, the plan was always to create that kind of space, but they had to wait until most of the construction at the police station was completed first.
 
“A few years ago we started looking at trying to get some services for the public in relation to online purchases… and it came about because it’s a huge product. A recent survey said 60 per cent of people who have online profiles have within the last month, purchased something online. So that’s a huge clientele that we’re working with. And so we wanted to make sure that we gave everybody an opportunity to be safe.”
 
In Burnaby, B.C. in November 2016, what was supposed to begin as a buy/sell transaction at an apartment building, turned into a terrifying ordeal for a man interested in buying something he saw on Craigslist.
 
The man was given a location for a meeting, but a false apartment number, and while he waited for the potential buyer to show up, a man in a balaclava, waiving a machete ran towards him, screaming for him to hand over the money he had brought with him.
 
The victim was able to run away and eventually flag down a bus driver and escape.
 
In another incident in 2013 in the Vancouver suburb of Langley, a couple trying to sell jewlery was pepper sprayed and their valuables stolen.
 
While Baker says there haven’t yet been any issues with transactions that occur in person in the city, they do want to make sure there’s always an option.
 
“You get the odd thing, where the product is not delivered, and so that aspect is also important. You want face-to-face transactions. You don’t give money online, and you don’t make a purchase unless you see the product and you see the person. That’s the biggest problem we have faced in Lethbridge.”
 
Cst. Baker says surveillance cameras in the vicinity will always be on, and monitored 24/7. He wants people to know that if there’s a problem, they’ll be there immediately.
 
“There will always be somebody here, if you need it.”