Safeway Adds More Anti-Theft Gates at Several San Francisco Stores

The Safeway store chain is installing anti-theft gates at more San Francisco locations, after a wave of shoplifting has hit its stores, and others, throughout the Bay Area.

A local ABC affiliate reported:

A new anti-theft device is being installed at two San Francisco Safeway supermarkets.

They are sliding barriers at the self-checkout area that open when a receipt is scanned.

…

Other supermarkets have installed similar types of gates and barriers and consolidated entrances in response to theft.

As Breitbart News has previously reported, other Safeway locations have installed similar gates. The problem dates back several years: in 2021, Safeway’s location in the Castro district of San Francisco cut hours because of shoplifting concerns.

Breitbart News noted that earlier in 2021, “Walgreens closed 17 stores in the city due to shoplifting, which skyrocketed after California voters passed Proposition 47, a ballot initiative aimed at criminal justice reform, which reclassified thefts up to $950 as misdemeanors. As a result, such thefts are rarely prosecuted.”

A Safeway in Vallejo has added gates and closed a second entrance. Other locations have also done this to deter shoplifters @KPIXtv pic.twitter.com/v86GmNNKOJ

— Betty Yu (@bett_yu) June 19, 2023

Several major retailers have left downtown San Francisco due to crime, an exodus of residents in recent years, and changes in the overall retail market. Many experts warn that downtown San Francisco faces economic collapse and that the center of the city will have to be redesigned to survive, emphasizing entertainment and housing rather than commercial real estate and retail.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.