To counter the increase in violent crimes during meetings to conduct online transactions, San Diego is joining other cities across the country by designating parking spots outside police stations for buyers and sellers to complete online transactions. 

The police station in Rancho Peñasquitos  is the first of its kind in the county.

While officers do not actively monitor the transactions, the well-lit, marked parking spaces are monitored by surveillance cameras 24 hours a day. And they are in clear view of the front doors of the Northeastern Division station, at 13396 Salmon Road. 

​Read more here.

The Moreno Valley (Calif.) Police Department has set up a Swap Zone in the Police Department parking lot  to provide residents with another option to buy and sell items.

The new site at 22850 Calle San Juan de Los Lagos in Moreno Valley offers distinct signage and is monitored by a Citywide Camera to record transaction.

​See more here.

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office will start an “Internet Safe Exchange Zone” in San Mateo County this week. 

The exchange zone is at the Maple Street Correctional Center in Redwood City, one of the safest buildings in the Peninsula. The new state-of-the-art jail has 24-hour video surveillance, has a heavy law enforcement presence and is across the street from the Redwood City Police Department.
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San Mateo County is one of the first in California to implement the exchange zone. 

Read more here.

The Calaveras County (Calif.) Sheriff’s Office has designated two parking spaces in its public parking area as a “Safe Trading Zone” for people who want to buy or sell items but are worried about their safety.

The location is in the Sheriff’s Office parking lot at 1045 Jeff Tuttle Drive in San Andreas. Buyers and sellers will find the parking spaces on the right side as they exit the parking lot. There is an identifying sign at the two parking spaces.

The parking lot is well-lit and monitored by video surveillance cameras 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, the Sheriff's Office recommends that transactions be made during daylight hours.

Read more here.

Police in Fremont, Calif.,  have set up an “exchange zone” at the police department's front parking lot so people can meet there to buy or sell items posted on Craigslist and other online sites in safety.

Two parking spaces in the lot have been marked with yellow lines and signs that let people know the area is video- and audio-recorded 24 hours a day.
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Police officers will not be stationed at the parking lots to oversee exchanges and won’t be monitoring the video and audio live. Police recommend that transactions take place between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, which coincides with business hours of when the front desk is open.

Read more here.

Residents of Danville, Ca., have a safer place to buy or sell items.

Danville police have designated parking spaces at police headquarters at 510 La Gonda Way as an exchange zone for private-property sales of items listed on classified ad-type websites. The parking spaces watched by a hidden camera outside police headquarters.

​Read more here.