Editor
The Miami Township Police Department recently established an Internet Safety Zone, where people can exchange goods purchased on websites such as Craigslist Inc.
Sgt. Kevin Petrocelli got the idea from a friend. After looking into the idea, he found that Butler County had a internet safety zone, but there was not a local place to hold a transaction.
Petrocelli has heard about how exchanges can go wrong, and he felt it would be a great service for the community. In addition, the safety zone seemed to fit well into the department’s efforts to be community-oriented.
“I think it’s important for us to meet the needs of the people we serve,” Petrocelli said.
If a buyer or seller has bad motives, Petrocelli feels they will likely back out of the deal if the other person insists on having the exchange at a police station.
Petrocelli suggested the idea to Assistant Chief Mike Mills and Chief Sue Madsen a few weeks ago, and they liked the idea so they made signs and began to promote it, Mills said.
Mills has seen reports in the past where someone has purchased an iPhone. After the seller leaves and the buyer tries to activate the phone, the buyer discovers that the phone was stolen. Mills feels that if the seller wanted to meet in the police department, the buyer would have backed out.
The interior of the building will be open for meetings Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. If this really takes off, or people make requests, the department may expand the hours. The interior is under video surveillance, as is the parking lot.
Anyone who wants to take advantage of the Internet Safety Zone simply has to come in and make their exchange. The department will not be taking any documentation of the exchange, other than the video surveillance, Mills said.
“We’re advertising, ‘Come here and be safe when you’re making your transaction,’” Mills said.
He added, “You never know who you’re meeting on these sites.”
The police department posted a notice about the Internet Safety Zone on the department’s Facebook page on March 7. Since, the post has been viewed over 200,000 times, Mills said.
In addition, the post has had 1,760 shares, 218 comments, 2,100 likes, 92 loves and 7 wows.
The comments have been overwhelmingly positive.
“This is an awesome idea. I am always hesitant to use some sites like Craigslist to sell items because I don’t want some nut job coming into my home,” Miguel Ortiz commented.
Other commenters thanked the township and expressed how great they think the idea is, even some users who are not township residents commenting on how much they would like to see something like this in their area. A couple users requested hours outside of standard business hours.
“It makes me happy to see that something like this is well received in the community,” Petrocelli said.
This option will likely put both the buyer and the seller at ease when making the purchase, Mills said.
“It just makes everybody a little safer,” he said.
The police department is located at 5900 McPicken Dr. in Milford. There is a sign up identifying the department as an internet purchase exchange location.