Shoppers in the District’s Adams Morgan neighborhood spotted new security gates installed at a Safeway’s checkouts, opening only when a receipt is scanned.
A resident named Terry sent photos Friday to community news site PoPville, which noted that the store added a police officer.
The grocery store is at 1747 Columbia Road NW and called “Spanish Safeway” due to the neighborhood’s Hispanic population, according to Washingtonian magazine.
Adams Morgan Realtor John Murray posted on X that a gate is also at the entrance, presumably to stop shoplifters.
A CVS location in nearby Columbia Heights is due to close later this month, with its shelves left bare by shoplifters. Watching thieves get away with stealing has led other customers to follow suit.
“All the customers, they try to take [something] for free. They’re watching another customer and seeing that they didn’t pay, so they’ll tell us, ‘Why didn’t he pay? I’m not paying,’” an anonymous cashier at the Columbia Heights location told The Washington Times recently.
A commenter on Reddit’s D.C. forum said similar gates are at a Safeway location in Southwest Washington.
“These are easily pushed open, they’re not really keeping anyone inside. Otherwise it would be a fire hazard and enormous hassle for employees. … I can’t attest to their efficacy when operating, but they’re broken or malfunctioning 90% of the time I’m in there,” the commenter wrote.
Other posters added that gates like these are common in Europe to create a single point of exit that’s easier to monitor.
Albertsons Companies, the parent of Safeway, has not yet responded to a request for comment.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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