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Craigslist ‘safe zones’ in Canada lagging those in U.S.

Raytown police are offering up advice for Craigslist shoppers after multiple armed robberies in the last month have prompted concern from the department.
Raytown police are offering up advice for Craigslist shoppers after multiple armed robberies in the last month have prompted concern from the department.

 

By Sherry Noik

More than two years after a classifieds website was used to lure a Hamilton man to his death, very few Canadian police forces have set up online transaction “safe zones” on their premises like the ones found in many U.S. cities.

One large Ontario force will announce its version of a safe zone on Friday, Yahoo Canada News has learned.

Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS), which covers 12 jurisdictions, will roll out a pilot project at its detachment in the City of Welland, where there is a well-lit space for the public to park, 24-hour video surveillance and a constant police presence. No appointment necessary.

“Our role would be to maintain the peace if there’s a dispute of some kind or if someone came in and said there is overt criminal action,” Const. Phil Gavin told Yahoo Canada News on Wednesday.

Officers won’t be mitigating issues between buyers and sellers, only providing a safe place for them to do business.

But the NRPS is stopping short of calling it a “safe zone.”

“That’s a difficult thing to promise people,” Gavin said. “Can you guarantee people 100 per cent safety?”

In the face of potential liability issues, the force has decided to go with the unambiguous name “Internet transaction zones.”

They’re going to try it out for a year and then evaluate with a view to expanding the program to other detachments.

“If all’s going well, we’ll probably never even know it’s happening,” Gavin said. “People will meet in the parking lot and leave, and we’ll be none the wiser.”

Chief Jeff McGuire, speaking to a police services board meeting in May, said such zones are “likely to prove as a deterrent for any preconceived criminal activity.”

When the NRPS launches its pilot project on Friday, it will become just the fourth police service to invite Internet transactions.

The first was the Vancouver Police Department (VPD).

Responding to a suggestion from a Twitter user, the VPD said in March that it would gladly facilitate transactions on police property.

“CL [Craigslist] meetups welcomed in public spaces at police department - lobby/in front of building,” the force tweeted.

Two Ontario forces — in the towns of Orangeville and Midland — followed in April.

But Canada lags well behind the United States, where at least 70 police departments have set up such zones, according to a Wall Street Journal report in June.

For their part, Kijiji and Craigslist both make safety recommendations on their sites. Craigslist says the “overwhelming majority” of users is trustworthy but includes in its list of precautions “Consider making high-value exchanges at your local police station.”

A transaction zone in proximity to law enforcement might have saved the life of Tim Bosma, who was murdered in May 2013 after leaving home with two people who’d come to test-drive the truck he was selling online.

It might be the most sensational online classifieds-related crime in Canada but it’s far from the only one.

A Toronto man was charged last month after he allegedly sexually assaulted an 18-year-old woman who’d answered a Kijiji ad for a rental condo.

And in May 2013, another Toronto man was charged with sexual assault for allegedly luring a woman to a hotel room and drugging her.