For years, the recommendation about Craigslist, Backpage and other free-classified sites has always been, “Do your transactions in a safe place.” Now comes an invitation to buy and sell at the safest place of all: a police station.

After a rash of Craigslist-related robberies, Milwaukee police officer Lisa Saffold yesterday said that people who want to buy or sell on Craigslist can meet at police department district stations.

“If they don’t want to meet you at a safe place, if they don’t want to meet you at a police district, that should be a red flag, an indicator: Don’t do business with that individual,” Saffold told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“Do not give out personal information to an individual,” she told WISN television.

Six robberies related to Craigslist have been reported in one Milwaukee police district alone during the past month. The most recent was a stick-up for two mobile phones; others were for IPads.

“This is nothing new. It’s happening all over the country,” Safford said. “The media has deemed it ‘robbery by appointment’ because you’re posting ads, you’re selling your IPhones, your IPads, your vehicles, and when you go to a meeting  location, you’re being robbed.”

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Will it be a problem much longer? We strongly disagree with him, but a professor of management at the University of Alabama, has offered an “educated guess” that someone will come up with a smartphone app that displaces Craigslist this year.

The idea was included in a list of 14 faculty members’ predictions for 2012.

Craig E. Armstrong, assistant professor of management at Alabama, said someone will offer an “app” that performs “Craigslist” functions for the exchange of goods and services. (Aren’t there a dozen, or six dozen, of those already?)

“Need to find someone to paint your house? Check the app. Want to earn some extra money by applying a skill you have? Check the app. The app platform will displace Craigslist because it will enable transactions with less traction and allow buyers and sellers to create reputations, Armstrong says,” the university said in the release.

One of the other projections: Social media will have a major impact on politics. (This requires a college degree?)

“Social media will continue to serve as an echo chamber for candidate gaffes, as we’ve already seen …” said Kristen Heflin, an assistant professor of advertising and public relations.  “Social media will be mined for information on public opinion. Social media buzz will serve as the new opinion polls. News organizations will base their stories off of social media buzz.”

The university’s office of media relations notes: “While these ‘educated guesses’ don’t always come true, our track record over the years has been good.”

We’d say 50-50 on those two. Craigslist may have plateaued, but it isn’t going away any time soon. As for the social-buzz “educated guess,” it’s hardly a guess when it’s already happened!