DCSO offers ‘Blue Line Safety Zone’ for transactions

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday it is now offering the “Blue Line Safety Zone,” a defined spot in the agency’s parking lot for people to meet and conduct various kinds of legal exchanges, from child visitation to online transactions.

Here’s the agency’s full announcement:

This clearly marked and well-lit location is for our community to use for the various kinds of exchanges that occur every day in Central Oregon. Examples include child visitation exchanges and the legal buying and selling of merchandise from various online websites.

By providing a location in the parking lot of the Sheriff’s Office, we are hoping to deter those that would take advantage of or do harm to those in our community.

Sheriff L. Shane Nelson said, “Law enforcement is known as the Thin Blue Line, protecting our community by delivering superior public safety and service. Our office strives to be as proactive as we can be in delivering this service. The Sheriff’s Blue Line Safety Zone provides a safer, video-recorded public area for parent exchanges of children, as well as in-person transactions following online sales.”

This location is under 24-hour video surveillance and provides a safer location for members of our community to meet and exchange children or legally purchased merchandise.

Our deputies won’t get involved in or directly monitor these transactions, however, if the need arises, we would have video surveillance available to refer back to. Community members should call 911 from this location, should an emergency arise.

Meeting a person unknown to you to complete an online transaction comes with inherent risk. Community members should always use caution and choose a public location to complete any online transaction.