SANDY — Selling and buying things online can be tricky, and sometimes scary, because the people involved don't know each other.
Now there's a new and safer place where anyone can go just to make those exchanges.
Sandy has set up a new e-commerce exchange zone in front of its police department at 10000 Centennial Parkway.
Sandy Police Capt. Justin Chapman has used the site to meet sellers and pay for items. He said he often looks for deals on the Internet.
“I’ve made purchases and I’ve also sold things through sites like KSL.com,” Chapman said. He admits, as a law enforcement officer, he can be more suspicious of others.
“There’s always that uneasiness of, who is that person? Is everything legit?” Chapman said.
So on Sept. 16, when he bought an iPhone, he asked the seller to meet him at the city’s new e-commerce exchange zone. Two blue signs mark the area, south of the police department’s front doors.
Surveillance video shows the seller’s vehicle pulling up to the building. It’s raining and Chapman gets inside to make the purchase.
“He even mentioned to me, 'I always feel uncomfortable doing these kind of things because I don’t know who I’m going to meet, I don’t know where the best place is to stop and to make a transaction like that,'” Chapman said.
That’s why Sandy City Councilman Steve Fairbanks pursued the idea of creating an exchange zone.
“I found this story about someone who had purchased an item on Craigslist and when they went to meet and fulfill the transaction, they ended up being beaten and robbed,” Fairbanks said.
Fairbanks said his son, who lives in Texas, told him about a similar service at his local police department.
“It’s really simple and relatively cost free to the city,” he said. “Our expenses are the e-commerce signs, which aren’t very expensive.”
The area is well-lit. It is not monitored, but a camera on the south side of the building provides a birds-eye view.
City officials say the footage is available for an extended period of time.
“This has all the characteristics you would want for a safe exchange zone,” said Nicole Martin, communications director for the city of Sandy. “If someone that you’re dealing with does not want to meet you in this zone, I think you ought to reconsider perhaps making an exchange with them at all.”
The zone’s main purpose is for e-commerce exchange, but officials say people can also go there to do child custody exchanges.
“If there’s a criminal offense occurring, we’ll get involved. If there’s a civil dispute, we won’t, but we’ll have it recorded if that’s helpful in a civil transaction,” Fairbanks said.
Sandy is one of the first cities in Utah to implement the service.
Spanish Fork and Orem police departments also recently created their own safety zones.
“We actually added to our outside surveillance to incorporate the spots,” said Orem Police Sgt. Craig Martinez.
Email: syi@deseretnews.com