North Kingstown Police Promoting Safe Package Pickup

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI — With more than half of all holiday-related sales now being done online, the North Kingstown Police Department is working on ways to make sure residents receive their web purchases safely. Two years ago, the North Kingstown PD implemented the "Meetup Spot" in the station's parking lot for those want to complete an in-person internet transaction in a well-lit, monitored area. This Christmas, the department is hoping to expand another program where residents can have purchases shipped directly to the police station — then come pick them up securely — rather than have them left on the front stairs where they can be theft targets.

North Kingstown PD offered the holiday package pickup last year, but plans to promote it more this season with an anticipation it will be much more utilized.

"Porch pirates are a concern for us — like all communities," North Kingstown Capt. Steven St. Onge said. "This is one way we thought we could reach out and help the community. It will be interesting to see how it goes. Last year, we got off to a late start promoting it in October, so not as many people used it. We expect it to be bigger this year."

St. Onge said the "Meetup Spot" was based on the same concept of trying to keep residents safe. It was started in 2017 through a program where buyers and sellers can arrange to meet in front of the station under the camera's eye.

"We have a great spot here in the lot that's lit up and monitored with surveillance 24 hours a day with a dispatcher," St. Onge said. "It's not like we were getting inundated with calls from people who were getting ripped off. But it's there if people want to use it, and we have not had any complaints of anything going wrong with a sale when they have. When we saw an opportunity like this, we thought it would be a fantastic way to help the community."

With more and more sales shifting online, St. Onge said the key for buyers and sellers is to try to know as much as possible about the person with whom they are doing business, and to make any exchange of money and merchandise at a public place.

"You just have to be very vigilant," St. Onge said. "It's tough making a transaction with someone you don’t know — especially if you are meeting up to do in person. You could get ripped off, or even worse, so there is a comfort in knowing you can do it in a well-lit place with cameras."