Capt. Pat Yoes would love to chalk up the Sheriff’s Office’s adoption of a safe location for the public’s internet sale exchanges at its training facility parking lot as a stroke of genius.
But in reality, the Sheriff’s Office spokesman admits, “we saw a few other agencies doing it and we thought it was a great idea.”
The area is set up in the Sheriff’s training academy parking lot at 220 Judge Edward Dufresne Parkway in Luling and offers a place where one can finalize transactions where items are bought and sold on the Internet.
Located at the entrance of the parking lot there are two parking spaces designated as an Internet Exchange Location, which is under 24-hour video surveillance. The lot is intended to help limit the exchange of personal information or the potential dangers of meeting a stranger in a random parking lot and gives an alternative that is public, monitored, and accessible.
The camera will pan over the entire parking area. Sheriff Greg Champagne said he learned of the practice a few weeks back from a friend and fellow member of the National Sheriff’s Association.
“He was telling me about it at one of our meetings and I really wanted to learn more about it,” Champagne said. “It sounded like a great idea.”
Soon, Champagne indeed heard more about it, and saw more about it as well, his friend showing a video of the practice and how to implement it. The Sheriff was sold.
“I got back and said, ‘Pat, we have to do this,’” Champagne said. “We’ve already gotten a tremendous response on Facebook. It seems to be pretty popular.”
Champagne said that establishing the exchange location represents an inexpensive precautionary measure that offers the public some added peace of mind. These locations have been a growing trend at police stations across the country, reactive to a number of robberies and even murders that happened when people attempted to buy or sell things on the internet.
Craigslist, for instance, recorded its 100th related murder last December in Gary, Ind., according to the Advanced Interactive Media Group.
“You don’t know who you’re meeting with when it comes to these things, and when that’s the case, there’s always the potential that something could go wrong,” Yoes said.
As of Tuesday evening, the cameras to survey the exchange spot had just been installed. Champagne added that while it is identified as an Internet purchase exchange location, it can be used for other means as well, like exchanging court orders or for parents to exchange custody of children.
“Sometimes, unfortunately, there can be a lot of hostility (with custody battles),” Champagne said. “Anything can happen when that’s the case. This is somewhere people can meet and feel safe.”
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