Aurora Police Add Internet Purchase Safe-Exchange Spots
If you sell or buy items over the internet or social media, the Aurora Police Department suggests you meet the other party at the Aurora Police Department to do the actual transaction.
“If the other party doesn’t agree to meet there, maybe they’re not who they’re purporting to be,” APD spokeman Dan Ferrelli said on the department’s Facebook page.
The APD — like other departments in Kane County — has just set aside four spots in its parking lot reserved only for these types of transactions.
The spots are located in the eastern-most parking lot and are the first four spots that are separated by a median in the center row. Two of the spots face north and two face south and have special signs designating them as an “Internet Purchase Exchange Location.”
The spots are under video surveillance and are illuminated by a parking lot light adjacent to them.
“Like most cities, we’ve investigated frequent crimes stemming from persons doing transactions over the internet or using social media apps,” Ferrelli said. “Because of the anonymity of the Internet, it’s easy for those with criminal intentions to advertise items they purport to want to buy or sell.
“They then meet a potential customer via the Internet, they agree on a meeting location for the transaction and when the other party arrives, they become victims of crimes including theft, robbery and assaults.”
Ferrelli said using the APD greatly diminishes the chances of being victimized during these types of transactions — “for obvious reasons!”
