Long Beach is first city in the nation to impose new check

In August, the Long Beach City Council passed a first-in-the-nation ordinance that puts new rules in place for check-out lanes in certain stores. Proponents say the new measure would prevent retail theft.

The “Safe Stores Are Staffed Stores” ordinance went into effect in September, requiring larger “drug retail” stores and “food retail” over a certain size to staff one employee to every three self-checkout kiosks, and locked items from being purchased. The ordinance also limits the use of self-checkouts to 15 items or less, disqualifies items that require customer ID for purchase, and requires stores to open a staffed checkout lane before any self-checkout stations are operated.

Derek Smith, political director for UFCW local 324, the union that represents grocery store employees an