Jackson Police implement ‘Safe Exchange Zone’ for buyers, sellers

JACKSON, Tenn. — One local police department is making an effort to reduce the risk of their citizens becoming victims of crime.

Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and many other related websites are becoming more and more popular. Most of the time, you have to meet with the seller in order to receive what you want to buy.

The Jackson Police Department decided to create these “Safe Exchange Zones” in order to relieve some of the worries when it comes to these transactions.

“So we thought we would make this location where it’s much more safer,” said Jackson Police Chief Thom Corley. “We can’t guarantee you anything, but this location is here at the police department. We have a camera running 24/7 on it, it’s going to be lit up at night, it’s marked. And so it’s just a location for safe exchange.”

Chief Corley says the inspiration behind this came from reports of people being scammed during these exchanges.

“We’ve heard of some other agencies doing it. And like I said, we have had a couple reports of recent times where we have had a situation happen where someone got taken for a ride. They gave their money and didn’t get anything for it, and then they’ve had some issues of finding a place to meet for it. So we thought we would provide that safe location,” Corley said.

Of course, you may not be able to come all the way to Jackson to use this safe exchange zone — Chief Corley has some tips for you to still remain as safe as possible.

“I would always recommend that if you’re going to meet someone that you don’t know to exchange something like that, I would say go to a fire department, go to a police station in your community, go to a well-lit area that you know is going to be videoed, a high-traffic retail place,” said Corley. “Somewhere like that where there is going to be documentation of the transaction.”

You do not need to call ahead to use this safe exchange zone. The address for this location is 234 Institute Street in Jackson.

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