CAMDEN COUNTY

CHERRY HILL Cherry Hill has joined a growing number of municipalities offering "safe zones" for residents to complete transactions arranged through Craigslist and other websites.

"Online forums have become a popular means to buy and sell items," Cherry Hill Police Chief Bud Monaghan said in a statement. "However, interactions of this nature are also prime targets for robbery, thefts and scams."

In an effort to lessen such crimes, Cherry Hill established two safe transaction sites. One is in the lobby of police headquarters, at the Township Municipal Building at 820 Mercer St.; the second is nearby, in a back parking lot of the municipal building, according to a news release issued last week by Cherry Hill Police.

Both are continuously monitored by surveillance cameras and publicly accessible around the clock, though officers will neither witness transactions nor provide any guarantees about the quality of items being exchanged.

Cherry Hill is the latest local area to designate one or more "safe zones" for online sales: Conshohocken last year began offering its police station lobby and parking lot for the purpose, and similar programs were rolled out in Abington and Lansdale.

Alex Wigglesworth