Safe Exchange Zone Coming to Edison

EDISON, NJ - Edison Township will soon become the latest New Jersey municipality to establish a “safe zone” where people can meet in person to complete their online transactions. The exchange zone would be available in the Police Headquarters lobby available 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

The zone is necessary because police have seen “a number of e-commerce transactions that end in robberies, assaults and other crimes," said Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan. In fact, just this past December, a couple in Highlands, NJ was held up at gunpoint by a man they invited over for a Craigslist sale.

Mayor Thomas Lankey is asking the Edison Township Council to pass an ordinance creating “a safe, neutral exchange zone” in the Police headquarters’ lobby where e-commerce transactions can be monitored and recorded on surveillance cameras. The measure will be introduced at the Council’s April 12th meeting.

While Edison police officers would not physically monitor transactions, Bryan said “if anything goes wrong, or if a crime is committed, officers could respond to the lobby within seconds.”