Stores have long taken a page from banks in using bullet proof glass (not actually glass nowadays. It’s typically thick acrylic or plexiglass) to protect their employees from people looking to do Bad Things. They also put many items behind this same protection. Baltimore is a hotbed of this. Over to Philly
(Fox29) A controversial bill is currently working its way through city hall designed to regulate ‘stop and go’ liquor stores. One part of the bill would force business owners to take down bulletproof glass inside their stores. But at what cost to their safety?
Broad Deli sits on the corner of the 2200 block of North Broad, inside a wall of bulletproof glass separates customers from workers.
“The most important thing is safety and the public’s safety,” owner Rich Kim said.
Now, if you look at the story at PhillyMag, you learn that many of these places, called stop-and-gos, are not particularly reputable. Back to Fox29
A bill moving through city council reads: “No establishment shall erect or maintain a physical barrier.”
It’s called the ‘Stop and Go’ bill and is being offered by city councilwoman Cindy Bass.
“Right now, the plexiglass has to come down,” she said.
If you watch the attached video, as The Blaze did, we also learn part of her reasoning
“We want to make sure that there isn’t this sort of indignity, in my opinion, to serving food through a plexiglass only in certain neighborhoods,†Bass told the station.
So, she’s cool with putting the workers at the stores in more danger just because someone feelings might be hurt. I wonder if she has considered that there’s a reason for the bulletproof protection
Bass said stores could install more security cameras and use security guards in place of the bulletproof glass, the station said.
Oh, sure, right, just spend more money on cameras (which most probably already have) and security guards! Will they be allowed to be armed? Philly is pretty tight on owning firearms. Apparently she is aware of the danger. Liberals.
If a business cannot keep themselves safe in an area, they will leave. When you go into a bad bad area & the only business is a chop suey place, they always have the bulletproof bankers windows and are carry out only. They aren’t set up like that to be obnoxious, they just don’t care to be robbed and/or shot in the face.
Here’s a thought…maybe crack down (pun intended) on criminals and make it unnecessary for establishments to protect themselves with bulletproof glass?
BTW, does this apply to banks, too? Because in my town, most of them have bulletproof glass. Even in the nice neighborhoods!
The bulletproof glass might save a clerk’s life; more security guards and cameras just make it easier to catch the crooks after they’ve shot the clerk.
Of course, if a store has a bulletproof glass shield, maybe that would deter criminals from trying to rob the joint in the first place, since they couldn’t threaten the clerk. Or is Councilwench Bass opposed to making things more difficult for criminals?
And she’s not smart enough, or honest enough, to admit why you only need plexiglass in certain parts of town. Morons like her should be worthy of nothing but ridicule, but unfortunately some bigger morons put her in a position of power.
Here’s a more thorough article on the bill.
http://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/11/29/cindy-bass-stop-go-bulletproof-glass/