An aerial view of the buyer-seller exchange parking spots at La Retama Central Library in downtown Corpus Christi. Courtesy Photo
The parking lot of La Retama Central Library is now an official Buy-Sell Exchange Place, the first location in the city designated as a safe-zone for e-commerce exchanges. The Corpus Christi Police Department established two parking spaces on the lot for transactions, adopting a practice used successfully in cities nationwide.
The area is now equipped with cameras, signs and lighting, providing 24-hour surveillance for citizens to use as a safe place to exchange merchandise. Most of the sales are done through e-commerce sites such as eBay, Trash to Treasure and Craigslist.
City libraries from Flour Bluff to Calallen will be outfitted with similar surveillance and signage by the end of the year said a police department spokesperson.
Having a safe zone for e-commerce merchandise exchanges might have saved the life of Cody Maxwell Ramos, who met three men at a fast-food restaurant late last year to sell a smart phone. One of the three grabbed the phone and took off in a van. Ramos grabbed onto the vehicle and was carried about five miles before he fell off, sustaining fatal injuries.
For any exchange, police advice citizens to remember the following:
• Always bring someone with you when meeting a stranger to make an exchange.
• Avoid giving strangers your personal information, including your address.
• Avoid exchanges at night if possible, even in the designated zone.
• Avoid remote or out-of-the-way places for exchanges and be careful of persons who insist on secluded locations or exchanges at their home.
• Let someone know the time and place of your intended exchange and any information regarding the other person before you go.
