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Echuca Police Station offers safer online exchange site

By Emily Donohoe

Oct 29, 2024

Echuca Police Station now hosts a Safe Exchange Site for online buyers and sellers to meet. Photos: Aidan Briggs Photo by Aidan Briggs

Echuca Police Station is home to a Safer Exchange Site, a dedicated space to exchange items bought online in a more secure environment.

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The initiative encourages buyers and sellers to meet at one of 35 sites, located outside 24-hour police stations, rather than at a home or park.

The sites have CCTV, lighting and signage to promote safety when transferring goods.

The area is designated with signage, and offers a well-lit and CCTV-covered space. Photo by Aidan Briggs

Victoria Police Commander Tim Tully said he believed these zones could provide better protection, but urged people to still use common sense for online exchanges.

“While the overall number of assaults, thefts and robberies connected to online exchanges is low, we don’t want to see any occur,” he said.

“With the popularity of buying and selling items via online marketplaces continuing to grow, this initiative is all about police getting on the front foot to ensure an emerging crime theme doesn’t become an embedded trend.

“While these sites are a safer alternative than meeting someone at your home or in a dimly lit area with no CCTV, we still encourage people to consider the risks of meeting a person they’ve never met before.

“Police suggest meeting during daylight hours if possible and bringing someone with you to the exchange.”

A trial was undertaken in Melbourne’s north-east in mid-2022, showing engagement with the sites and a decrease in related crimes.

Echuca is one of 13 regional police stations to have a site, which is located at the main entrance to the station on 143-145 Anstruther St, Echuca.