Online sellers and buyers looking for a safe space to meet can now turn to one of the Long Beach Police Department’s three substations throughout the city.
The North, West and East substation public parking lots will be able to act as “e-Commerce exchange zones” the department announced via Facebook on Friday.
Officials said the department designed, purchased and installed the signage at these substations so both buyers and sellers can meet after making agreements online from websites like “OfferUp” and “Craigslist.”
“Regrettably, suspects often lure victims to locations under the false belief that they will purchase an item from a seller,” officials stated. “When the seller arrives at the meeting location, the suspect then steals the item from the seller/victim.”
Authorities believe these exchange zones will help reduce the number of e-commerce theft crimes by providing locations that are monitored by surveillance cameras and staffed with police personnel.
The LBPD’s headquarters on Broadway is the only building that will not designate such a zone due to the parking situation, LBPD Sgt. Brad Johnson added.
While other police departments have also created safe child exchange zones signs for child custody situations, Johnson said such exchanges are already practiced without the signage.
In November 2016, county and city officials revealed a countywide pilot program at the LBPD’s headquarters aimed at providing safe places for child sex trafficking victims and children in desperate situations.
Above, left photo courtesy of LBPD.