Let’s meet at the police station…
An interesting article in Slate looks at one area of growing cooperation between the public and private sectors. The popularity of trade sites such as Craigslist in cities throughout the United States has produced numerous problems: one thing is to place an advertisement for something you want to get rid of, or another for something you’re looking for; but suddenly meeting somebody you have never met before in place they may well have chosen where you have never been, and where on many occasions you are going to have to discuss the terms and conditions of the sale.
This potentially uncomfortable situation, as well as reports of crime during such exchanges or people using the service to pass counterfeit money, has led the police departments of some cities to offer their services by putting the waiting area of police stations at the disposal of people using sites like Craigslist, where they can conduct their transactions.
Police stations are open 24 hours a day, they are seen as safe places thanks to the cameras placed there, as well as the constant presence of police officers, and what’s more, would automatically dissuade anybody thinking of selling stolen goods or committing some other sort of crime. The police see the use of their space as a way of offering a further service to the public that costs it no money or any extra supervision.
For the moment, four US cities have signed up to this “find a safe place” initiative. With these kinds of services on the rise, the idea could easily be extended to other cities and countries: at bottom, it’s a way to bring the police and the public closer, while generating a positive image of police stations. Citizens’ attitude towards the police is said to be an interesting metric for the development of a city or country, with an unequal distribution that spans from confidence and sympathy, to fear and prevention.
We shall have to see if the Spanish police, which has garnered international attention for its creative use of Twitter,
with almost 1.4 million followers nowadays, is encouraged to launch a similar kind of service…
(En español, aquí)
