Date: October 12, 2016
Re: Safe Internet Purchase
Exchange Location
Issued by: Det. Sgt. Jeremiah
P. Marron Jr.
Darien, CT - 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. 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.
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. 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 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.
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