That said, I wonder what happens at safeway during a fire or shooter.
During a fire, the gate controller will have a fire alarm input on the terminal block wired to an output from the fire alarm system that will open the gate if the fire alarm system activates. All automatic doors/gates/card access doors and fire alarm systems work the same way, fail open on fire alarm signal.
If there was a duress button system at Safeway, a signal from that could be used to automatically open gates and doors as well during an active shooter incident, but afaik it’s not mandated by code like fire alarm door and gate releases are.
Some automatic sliding double doors actually are able to be pushed open, there’s a hidden hinge in the top that allows it to open up even if the double doors are closed.
You might be able to lock it down during periods of limited occupancy, and you can rig it to an annoying alarm, and maybe try to identify the person, and ban them from future. It is possible to get variances for this, but you usually need to either be a medical or penal facility.
I looked up a wiring diagram for a similar gate and saw it had a fire alarm input so I assumed the AHJ in this case approved it based on the ability for the gate to open when an alarm condition is detected. That being said, it seems like a danger to me.
A regional hardware store chain has turnstiles at the entry points and swing gates at exits, which seems much safer for access control in a big box store.
And I’m not talking about homelessness in general. New York has plenty but at least it’s somewhat under control. No companies are leaving or putting these sorts of barriers in place because of it.
That already happened in SF, although it took far too long. So far, things haven't improved much or, alternatively, have gotten even worse. It depends on who you ask and where they happen to stand on highly-politicized SF city governance issues.
That politicization is really the root cause of all this - and it goes back decades. Long enough to undermine or weaken so many underlying structural fundamentals it may not even be possible to fix anytime soon. Realizing this, I got out quite a while ago.
Many other retailers have already relocated elsewhere, so at least Safeway is still there trying to provide people with a local option.
gwbas1c•3mo ago
When I lived in SF, I stopped using the automated checkouts because they were too sensitive and glitchy; if you breathed on the scale they'd require a clerk to reset.
potato3732842•3mo ago
And I say that as someone who lives in the kind of city people associate with post-industrial decay.