Washington’s police station could soon become a safe zone for internet exchanges and procurement.

Police stations around the nation are setting up “internet purchase exchange locations” where people may complete sales deals they have made online. Such zones allow people to ensure an online purchase or sale is a secure, safe transaction.

“A lot of cities have gone to this. Folks are actually buying things online. They use the blue bins at Wal-Mart because they are lit. They have cameras. So does our police department. This does not involve any physical impact. It does not involve us spending any money other than for a sign. It doesn’t involve us having to do anything except designate the police department as a safe zone. It is monitored 24 hours a day. There are cameras there. I’d like for us to get started with this at our earliest convenience,” said City Council member William Pitt.

“I’d like to hear from the chief,” Councilman Larry Beeman said. “Have you got enough parking for that? I mean, I think it’s a great idea, but if you’ve got eight people up there doing an exchange, how’s that going to affect your in and out?”

Stacy Drakeford, the city’s director of police and fire services, said, “We’re going to make this work. I don’t foresee a lot of people coming there at one time. We are used as a drop-off point for child-custody issues. They’re not there that long, so I really don’t see it being a problem.”

An internet purchase exchange location works this way: people planning to buy or sell an item call their local police departments to determine if they offer havens for safe sales. If they do, the people involved in the sales arrange to meet in the parking lot (daytime is preferred) for the exchange. Because many police-station parking lots are well-lit and monitored by cameras around the clock — and usually with police personnel close by — there is an element of security that might not be available at other exchange sites such as a residence or school parking lot.

Some police stations allow their lobbies to be used as exchange locations. The mere suggestion of meeting at a police station helps deter people with criminal intentions, according to some police officials.

People have been assaulted, robbed and fatally shot as they tried to sell items they posted on Craigslist and other such sites, according to several media outlets.

In North Carolina, police departments in Greenville, Burlington and other cities and towns have safe transaction zones, according to safetradestations.com, which puts together lists of safe transaction sites in various cities.

The Hartford (Connecticut) Police Department’s Operation Safe Lot’s webpage notes: “Craigslist transactions that have turned into robberies and/or violent encounters have become a nationwide trend and a problem for police departments across the country. Often, one of the consenting parties on either side of these transactions is robbed of their money and/or belongings. Certainly, the greater Hartford region has experienced this trend first hand. As we have painfully seen here in Hartford, these types of incidents have had great potential for violence. In an effort to help this trend and keep our citizens safe, the Hartford Police Department is offering its public parking lot as a suggested location option for these transactions.”