Police stations offer safe place to conduct Craigslist business

Karl Trenker left his kids in the car and walked out into an apartment parking lot in Miramar, Fla. The 48-year-old Marine lieutenant colonel had his gold necklace ready. “Galven” had responded to his Craigslist ad for the necklace, and they arranged to meet on Dec. 21, 2011.

The two men who showed up snatched the necklace from Trenker and ran. When he gave chase, the robbers shot him several times.

Trenker survived the attack, but a new report from classified ad researcher AIM linked at least 84 killings to Craigslist transactions. The report also traced to the site thousands of rapes, robberies, and scams.

The Coral Springs, Fla., Police Department is one of hundreds around the country that have had enough. The station’s lobby and parking lots are open 24-7 for community shoppers to meet to finalize online transactions. Security cameras monitor the area, and police officers are always coming and going.

“Criminals aren’t going to say, hey, let me go rob someone at the police department,” said Lynne Martzall, an official from Coral Springs. “That would be a pretty stupid move.”

These safe zones are an answer to the growing popularity of online shopping sites like Craigslist. Buyers and sellers, usually strangers, agree on a meeting place—but that can be dangerous. In April 2015, Craigslist updated its personal safety page to recommend, “Consider making high value exchanges at your local police station.”

When the Coral Springs Police Department established its safe zone, the community had an “overwhelmingly positive” reaction, Martzall said. The police department’s Facebook page includes a story of one man who asked another shopper to meet for a transaction, but at the police station. The stranger replied, “Uhhhh, never mind.”

“At least we know it’s working,” Martzall said.