ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The parking lot, and lobby of the St. Augustine Police Department now have a new meaning for locals.
They are deemed “safe zones” where people can meet and make Craigslist transactions.
The motivation to make these safe zones came after officers heard about a deadly situation in Colorado.
A mother carrying her unborn baby answered a Craigslist ad for baby clothes.
When the mother arrived at the woman’s home, she was attacked and her baby was cut from her stomach. The baby didn’t survive.
It’s a tragic story and we wanted to get ahead of it if we could in St. Augustine, and offer a feature that may make the folks of St. Augustine and visitors to feel more safe.
St. Augustine isn’t the only department in the area that has added a safe zone.
Last month, we told you that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Bradford County also created a safe spot for transactions.
Local Patrick Montgomery says he has used Craigslist before and thinks safe zones are a smart idea.
“I think it's awesome I think that's it’s a way to keep people feeling protected,” said Montgomery.
If you are outside doing a transaction, there's also a surveillance camera there to capture what’s going on in the parking lot.
Police posted information about the safe zone on their Facebook page to help get the word out to locals.
WJAX
