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Nov 09, 2023

SF Safeway blasts classical music 24/7 to 'deter loitering'

The LiveView Technologies camera system in the Safeway parking lot at 1335

The LiveView Technologies camera system in the Safeway parking lot at 1335 Webster St., in San Francisco.

The Safeway grocery store at 1335 Webster St. in San Francisco's Fillmore District has been blasting classical music at all hours of the day and night from its parking lot for at least a week, nearby neighbors told SFGATE.

Neighbors have lodged multiple complaints with 311 and the San Francisco Police Department's nonemergency line, but the music has continued unabated, according to neighbors who spoke to SFGATE and also shared their experiences in a Nextdoor thread.

The nonstop barrage of sound is coming from a LiveView Technologies mobile surveillance unit, a solar-powered device that fits into a single parking space and comes equipped with lights, thermal imaging and loudspeakers intended to "decrease ... retail theft" and "increase safety," according to the company's website.

Safeway has placed mobile surveillance units in parking lots at multiple San Francisco locations. While other locations do not have the security system's optional audio feature activated, whoever is operating the mobile unit at 1335 Webster St. seems to have recently turned up the volume of the loudspeakers exponentially and is keeping the music going 24 hours a day.

This is despite a December 2022 blog post on the LiveView Technologies website called "The Most Humane Battle: Know How to Prevent Homeless Encampments With LVT," which included a section titled "Humane auditory alerts" that touted the benefits of using the security system's "temporary" alerts, rather than "continuous, loud music."

"It is … truly 'alerting,' making the area a terrible place to sleep for the night," the post reads of the "temporary" noises. "Imagine the sounds of the worst hotel you’ve ever stayed at. Only worse."

Safeway has opted to go a step beyond the "temporary" alerts suggested by LiveView Technologies, instead following in the footsteps of other anti-homeless noise disturbance measures attempted by 7-Eleven, Burger King and Los Angeles Metro.

Residents at surrounding apartment buildings have found the noises to be extremely disruptive. According to Adrian Maestas, who lives nearby, "nobody" at the management level at Safeway had an explanation for him when he reached out about the tortuous music. "They were pretty adamant that they had no idea this was playing 24 hours a day," Maestas said.

The Safeway at 1335 Webster St has been blasting classical music 24 hours a day for at least the last week to "deter loitering," a spokesperson wrote me. The anti-homeless maneuver has also incensed residents at nearby buildings, who say they can't sleep anymore pic.twitter.com/ju6L7gePNF

Management declined to comment when reached by SFGATE, referring this reporter to Safeway's corporate team. A Safeway corporate spokesperson sent along a statement that acknowledged playing music at this location to "deter loitering" but did not immediately respond to follow-up questions about why the volume and frequency of the music recently increased.

"Safeway employs several security measures at our stores, including visible deterrents and others that are not immediately apparent," the spokesperson wrote. "There are live view surveillance cameras to monitor activity in the parking lot of the Webster Street Safeway. Since February, classical music has been playing from the unit to deter loitering. This is a common industry practice. As an ongoing effort, we monitor the volume level of the unit and adjust where needed."

Nearby neighbors say if the music really has been playing since February, then it wasn't noticeable until the past week or so. Bruce Johnson, who lives in another nearby building, says he can't open his windows anymore. "It's loud enough that I can hear it over my TV at night," he told SFGATE. "It's quite disruptive to the people in the building."

"There are hundreds of people who live within earshot of this," Maestas added.

Johnson said there have long been unhoused people sleeping in their cars in the parking lot, and sometimes there are street vendors and tailgaters who play loud music, too. But he categorized their noise disturbances as occasional, as opposed to what Safeway is doing now.

Maestas said the side of the parking lot closest to his apartment complex has dealt with noise issues predating Safeway's classical music incursion, with one vehicle in particular being a chronic offender of blasting music at night; Safeway has only added to a cacophony of sounds. "Having the two music systems going on at the same time, it drives us all mad," Maestas said.

The Safeway at 1335 Webster St. falls under the purview of District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, who told SFGATE that his office was made aware of the loud classical music over the weekend.

"We reached out to Safeway for more information today and to share concerns about the volume and hours of the music," Preston said. "Community members have asked for Safeway to take a more proactive role in promoting safety in the parking lot, but that must be done in a way that is respectful of all neighbors and the community."

Both Johnson and Maestas — as well as other neighbors, according to a Nextdoor thread — have tried to file noise complaints with 311. Johnson was eventually able to submit a complaint, but he and Maestas were also redirected multiple times to SFPD's nonemergency line; as far as they know, no one from SFPD has visited the parking lot yet. SFPD did not respond to an SFGATE request for comment in time for publication.

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