MARYSVILLE – We’ve all heard about the scary stories.

Someone wants to sell something on Craigslist. A potential buyer comes to the house. They don’t buy, but they scout the house out and come back later to steal a bunch of items.

To stop that type of transaction and many others, the Marysville Police Department has a solution.

Out in the southeast corner of its park lot off Grove Street, there are two signs. They are designated as safe zones for such transactions because they are just outside the police station.

This solution takes on even more meaning after a recent shooting at a park-and-ride on the way to Stanwood. A man saw a listing on a social media site about chainsaws for sale. He thought they might be ones stolen from him. At the park and ride they ended up shooting at each other.

Sgt. James Maples of the MPD said it’s hard to imagine that happening if the transaction was taking place in the police parking lot.

“It’s neutral ground where people usually are on their best behavior,” Maples said.

He added that a national organization called Offer Up provided the signage for free. Similar to Craigslist, it wants its customers to be safe when making transactions.

There have been other, less serious problems locally with such transactions. Maples said buyers can “arrive and it’s not what they thought it would be.”

“They can get robbed or scammed” or pressure into buying something they don’t want out of fear, he said.

MPD Cmdr. Jeff Goldman said “those days are long gone” when people could go to someone’s house for such a purchase.

He added that for years the MPD has opened up its parking lot to families involved in custody battles could have a safe place to exchange their kids.

“This is a natural progression,” he said. “It’s a better way to provide another service.”