Fair Lawn joins other communities in offering an Online Transaction Safe Exchange Zone for residents to utilize during normal business hours, Monday through Friday. Look for signs posted in the main lobby of the Municipal Building for spots where items you have purchased online can be obtained from sellers under the watchful eye of Fair Lawn Police video surveillance. Larger items can be exchanged in the parking lot behind the Municipal Building, which is also under constant video surveillance.

Questions about the Online Transaction Safe Exchange Zone can be directed to the Borough Manager’s Office at 201-794-5310 or jvankruiningen@fairlawn.org.

Here’s a bit of background from the Wall Street Journal on how safe exchange zones came into being, and why:

Concerned about robberies, scams and killings tied to purchases arranged through Craigslist and other online marketplaces, police and sheriff’s departments nationwide are carving out areas of their stations for people to complete transactions.

At least 70 departments in the U.S., from Boca Raton, Fla., to Bedford, Texas, have created such zones, usually in parking lots or lobbies… The areas, sometimes dubbed “safe zones” or “safe havens,” deter criminals by virtue of their location on law-enforcement property that is under constant video surveillance, supporters say.