Denton police officers are hoping a new Internet Purchase Exchange Location at the Farmers Market on Salisbury Street will make for safer transactions.

Denton police officers are hoping a new Internet Purchase Exchange Location at the Farmers Market on Salisbury Street will make for safer transactions.

Denton Police Chief Mark Hicks said his department established the exchange site April 18. The farmers market is located across from Harrison Park and is under 24-hour video surveillance.

“My main goal is for people to feel safe when they do their Internet exchange for items they are buying or selling,” Hicks said.

Hicks said he got the idea after he saw an exchange site in Apex. He thought it would be a good idea because of people making transactions through yard sales pages on Facebook and through Craigslist.

Hicks said there are stories of people meeting who get robbed or even killed. While there haven’t been any of these incidences in Denton, Hicks is trying to prevent them from happening.

Anyone, regardless of where they live, can utilize Denton’s exchange location. Hicks said all of the videotapes of the surveillance from the farmers market will be stored at the Denton Police Department, so officers can go back and look at the footage if there is an incident.

The Lexington Police Department recently also rolled out a similar program at its headquarters on North Main Street.

Anyone who would like information about the Denton site can contact Hicks at (336) 859-2164.

Darrick Ignasiak can be reached at (336) 249-3981, ext. 217, or darrick.ignasiak@the-dispatch.com. Follow Darrick on Twitter: @DispatchDarrick