Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
In recent years buying, selling and meeting strangers online has become much more prevalent and even common practice in today’s day and age. Do you know there are specific Meetup Spots designated for these types of meet ups and transactions?
Located in front of the Public Safety HQ building downtown Prattville along the shore of the beautiful Mill Pond, this marked spot is available to the public to complete transactions conducted online in a safe manner.
SGT. Jeremy Thompson with the Prattville Police Department confirmed that this meetup spot is manned 24/7 by a Police Officer and that there is video recording of that location at all times.
“A collaboration with OfferUp was made through our Community Relations Unit during the renovation efforts of the Public Safety Building in 2016 to offer a safe place to conduct Internet purchase exchanges once the PSB was operational. The sign was provided by OfferUp through their Community MeetUp Spot initiative to provide these safe spaces in front of or near police stations around the country,” Thompson said.
When buying or selling an item in person, people should always meet in a well-lit, public location with security cameras. It’s also suggested to tell a trusted family member or friend exactly where this transaction or meeting will take place.
“It is less likely that someone with bad intentions would attempt something criminal, or even go through with a transaction, if it were conducted in front of a manned and surveilled law enforcement agency building,” Thompson said.
While the sign is designated for internet exchange, Thompson explained it can also be used for child custody exchanges between parties, the transfer of documents or other items in civil disputes, or even meeting someone from an online dating app for the first time.
“Sometimes even parties who know each other who have these types of transactions can result in conflicts and we want to provide a safe place for those exchanges. We also suggest not using cash to conduct these exchanges but rather some form of payment that can be tracked in some form, such as online payment providers (CashApp, Zelle, PayPal, etc.) or a cashier’s check for larger purchases in case law enforcement needs to identify those involved or attempt to recoup funds,” Thompson said.
Thompson also suggested never to use cryptocurrency to conduct transactions with unknown persons due to the nature of that currency and how extremely hard, if possible at all, it is to attempt to recoup those funds once they are sent.
However, if getting to this meetup spot is not feasible, Thompson suggested using areas in a location that are highly visible with plenty of people present, there’s a presence of security cameras, where Thompson stated, the more the better. He also stated to use a location where you are familiar and that you know that the cameras are operational.
Be sure to conduct these transactions in the day time.
“We just ask that one party of the exchange make contact with the Front Desk officer beforehand to let us know of the pending transaction, or meeting, so we can keep an eye on them during the transaction,” Thompson said.
