Courtesy: Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office

The “Safe Exchange Zone” is a designated area in Brainerd in front of the Crow Wing County Judicial Center that provides a safe place where child custody and online purchase exchanges can take place.

Crow Wing County Sheriff Scott Goddard created the exchange zone on the Crow Wing County campus for those who need to meet in an area that offers a sense of safety.

“I’m very excited about offering this service to our citizens,” said Crow Wing County Sheriff Scott Goddard. “Child custody exchanges occur daily throughout the county where deputies are being requested to standby for the exchange. Online sales through Facebook and eBay, are becoming more common and are often occurring between strangers. This new safe zone will provide a safe alternative for people to accomplish these interactions. The safe zone is monitored 24 hours a day by law enforcement and we are able to quickly respond if there were to be a problem.”

Goddard also commended a sheriff’s office employee for bringing up the idea of a safe zone. “911 Communications Supervisor, Meg Sherman, was instrumental in making this new program become a reality for Crow Wing County. I take great pleasure in recognizing employees’ ideas and in this case, it was an idea that offers a wide-range of safety benefits to our citizens. Meg’s “Safe Exchange Zone” proposal is just one example of the many great things our employees do each day,” added Goddard.

By — Chantelle Calhoun