With one in three Americans now using platforms like Facebook Marketplace each year to buy or sell second-hand goods, local residents in Adams Township have a new, safer place to complete those transactions.
The township has established a Safe Exchange Zone behind the Municipal Building and Police Department, where buyers and sellers can meet to complete transactions under the watch of 24-hour video surveillance.
Assistant Police Chief Bob Scanlon said the idea grew from residents occasionally asking police officers to be present while completing online transactions.
“We’ve had people come to the township looking for us to assist with an exchange,” Scanlon said. “We looked around and saw other departments doing exchange zones, so we decided to put one in.”
Although the township has not experienced problems involving online marketplace exchanges, Scanlon emphasized the project is entirely proactive.
“It’s proactive,” he said. “Seldom are you going to have a bad guy come with bad intent to an exchange zone that’s known to have video coverage and do something bad.”
The concept is straightforward. Two people who have agreed to buy or sell an item online simply arrange to meet at the Safe Exchange Zone. Once there, they exchange the merchandise and payment in an area monitored by the township’s security camera system before going their separate ways.
“It’s all under video surveillance,” Scanlon said. “You exchange the item, money—it’s all under camera.”
While Adams Township has not seen local incidents, the move aligns with a national trend as peer-to-peer local shopping continues to surge. Platforms like Facebook Marketplace now reach over a third of Americans annually, with millions of daily listings driving interactions between strangers. With consumer studies showing that over 60% of online marketplace users have encountered scam attempts or safety concerns during private deals, police departments nationwide have increasingly turned to designated surveillance zones to deter opportunistic crime.
Safety First
While the Safe Exchange Zone offers an added layer of security, Scanlon encourages residents to take additional precautions before meeting a stranger.
His advice includes researching the person you’re buying from or selling to by reviewing their social media presence and transaction history whenever possible.
“Try to do research on who you’re buying from,” he said. “Everything’s on social media, so check out their social media history, check out their buying history, selling history.”
He also recommends conducting exchanges during daylight hours whenever practical. However, because the exchange area is illuminated and under video surveillance, it remains available after dark as well.
A Simple, Low-Cost Addition
Scanlon said creating the exchange zone required only new signage, pavement markings and adjustments to the township’s existing camera system.
The project was presented to the Adams Township Board of Supervisors by Township Manager Mike Tylka and received immediate support, according to Scanlon.
Although the Safe Exchange Zone has only been open about a week, it has already been used for several transactions.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Scanlon said. “We expect a lot more to happen here in the future.”
As online buying and selling continues to grow, township officials hope the designated meeting space will give residents greater peace of mind while reducing the risk of crime during in-person transactions.