Starbucks Apologizes After 6 Police Officers Were Asked To Leave An Arizona Store

[Dem Dean]

Source: HuffPost

Starbucks has issued an apology after six police officers were asked to leave one of the franchise’s stores in Tempe, Arizona, on July 4 because a customer complained of not feeling “safe” with them there.

The officers were drinking coffee at the Starbucks before starting their shifts when an employee, who knew one of the officers because he was a regular, asked them to move out of the customer’s line of sight or leave, according to the Tempe Officers Association.

“This treatment of public safety workers could not be more disheartening,” the union said. “While the barista was polite, making such a request at all was offensive. Unfortunately, such treatment has become all too common in 2019.”

Starbucks on Sunday issued an apology to the Tempe Police Department and called the incident “completely unacceptable.”

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/police-officers-asked-to-leave-starbucks_n_5d21ec3ae4b0f3125685872b?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJ8xbHbZ8jGaHWJVX-e3JQC7qzf4sMBknX5dpLXtG5AIxJ3fVSI1tImsQt3k5G-Qk24-MNYPOm65oYN4BDCPsIkufiDgGDJtHa1uERjO6UXB5bu1hVq-FhIl3XrdVlp4fzruOPySPy9LNsTyDtcla7KTDHrWi1ynYFZjOjDa6Wza

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If the customer was Hispanic, I don't blame 'em for being scared of Arizona cops.

[Merlot]

1. Well, now the cops know how it feels to be asked to leave because

someone feels "uncomfortable" with them around.

It's not right in any situation, but wouldn't it be nice if instead of coming back with the remark about how “This treatment of public safety workers could not be more disheartening," they would have instead taken a moment to question why someone should feel so afraid in their presence.

[JI7]

4. usually it's just some white non leo who feels uncomfortable

around certain people and calls the cops.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

44. Introspection and self-reflection is not what they do

Unfortunately

[JI7]

2. why are people so fucking stupid

[oldsoftie]

25. Straight to the point!

[TalenaGor]

3. "all too common"? I've never heard of it happening before

[Igel]

10. There are lots of things I've never heard of before.

Doesn't mean they don't happen. Often, even.

Availability heuristic is the fancy term for it.

My father would have had a different term for it.

[jberryhill]

53. Drives me bananas

One of my pet peeves are the "why is X happening so much more often" pseudo-observations based on news coverage as opposed to actual measurements.

[stopdiggin]

52. I'm also going to challenge that "all too common"

WHERE is this a commonplace occurrence?

[Jake Stern]

5. Hope they sack the barista

No excuse for this.

[Rebl2]

6. I agree

The barista should have told the customer to leave if they were uncomfortable having the police there. At least that is what I heard-that it was a customer that asked the barista to ask them to leave.

[LisaL]

8. Exactly.

Cops had a right to be there just as anyone else. If customer is uncomfortable with cops, the customer should have been the one told to move or leave.

[Jake Stern]

12. There would be blood boiling outrage on here

if an "uncomfortable" customer was accommodated by asking women in hijabs to move or leave.

There wouldn't be attempts to excuse it by saying "Maybe that person had PTSD from Iraq".

[LisaL]

13. Well, exactly.

If someone feels uncomfortable for whatever reason, but the person who makes that someone uncomfortable is doing nothing wrong, that someone should be asked to leave, and not the other way around.

[JonLP24]

47. I have PTSD from Iraq

Hajibs don't bother me.

[Jake Stern]

48. Nobody I know that were deployed to Iraq are bothered either

I was comparing it to the justification that some are using for having the cops leave: "Maybe the customer has PTSD from an encounter with police"

[JonLP24]

49. I didn't see that comment

I think Islamaphobia is more of a real problem than fear of cops which doesn't affect them much because they have handcuffs or guns.

I remember a hijab wearing woman sitting silently on the light rail and a middle aged man visibly angry with her presence. I think he was too old to have served in a post 9/11 war.

I don't have a comment myself the police made it public and got what they wanted out of the situation and people are angry with the barista as well as the customer that complained. It isn't comparable to Islamaphobia. Have you seen Arizona cops Facebook posts? In fact there was ugly Islamaphobia. I worry about right wing cultures in police departments but this has nothing to do with the story.

[Jake Stern]

50. "people are angry with the barista as well as the customer that complained. "

And rightfully so. Police officers doing nothing more than drinking coffee shouldn't have to leave because someone feels "uncomfortable". The customer should have left.

[BlueInRedHell]

14. A big fuck you to the cops!

As a white woman who was a victim of police violence, I totally get someone being uncomfortable around cops. Fuck the cops to hell.

[Jedi Guy]

21. Doesn't matter if the person was uncomfortable or not. That doesn't mean the cops have to leave.

The cops have every right to go to Starbucks and get their coffee like everyone else. If someone else is uncomfortable merely being in the same room as a cop, then it's on them to leave, not to demand that the cops be asked to go. One person's discomfort doesn't mean others lose access to a place. That's absurd.

[oldsoftie]

24. Did THESE cops victimize you? No? Then you shouldnt put them all in the same basket.

[treestar]

46. +1

[Jake Stern]

31. See you're doing your part to uphold the stereotype that Dems hate cops.

[pwb]

33. I dont care for cops.

Our jails have few republicans in them.

[Everyman Jackal]

34. What percentage of Republicans are in prison?

What percentage of Democrats are in prison? What percentage of independents are in prison. What percentage of people who didn't vote before going to prison are in prison?

[24601]

57. Why wouldn't that be an issue more aligned with prosecutors than with police? n/t

[Skittles]

45. ridiculous

so if I am victimized, say, by a black man it would be OK for me to stereotype all black men?

[erronis]

7. Sounds like someone is itching to start a downhill discussion on DU

Because it ain't going to go anywhere else.

[Igel]

11. I actually think it's an interesting counterexample.

The usual thing that we think is really common is a white customer asking for POC to be asked to leave.

We don't know how frequent that is, to be honest, but it's assumed to be frequent. That there are other varieties of the same "uncomfortable feelings" is informative.

[erronis]

20. I agree with you for the counterexample. I do wonder about how many other varieties may pop up.

It's one thing to feel uncomfortable because a bunch of officers packing heat are sitting close by.

It's another because some brown dudes are jiving a couple of tables away.

Maybe I'm uncomfortable because there are a bunch of maggots munching McD's and mouthing insults at others.

Or because I'm a RW religious zealot who notices that a lesbian couple at the next table are sharing a milkshake.



For me it's easy. I stay out of mass-food places. I like to know what I'm eating - for the most part.

[OnDoutside]

9. Surprised they didn't offer to build a wall....

[Chemisse]

15. I can sure understand the discomfort, but nobody should be asked to leave, even if they're cops.

The person who feels uncomfortable should be the one walking out the door. No exceptions.

[benld74]

16. Big blue babies some of them

[Jedi Guy]

22. I'd say the baby in this scenario is the one who expects others to cater to their feelings...

[yaesu]

17. barista made a mistake because she wasn't trained properly, she shouldn't be making any such

decisions, its above her pay grade, should be a management problem.

[JI7]

26. why does one need training for such a thing ?

[yaesu]

35. so this kind of thing doesn't happen. nt

[LuckyLib]

18. The lack of maturity of some folks working

in food service causes stupid reactions and decisions. No common sense.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

30. Not limited to food service, of course.

[MicaelS]

19. That idiot customer better hope her identity..

Does not get out, otherwise her lifeisgoing to turn into a living hell.

[RandiFan1290]

32. Why?

are the thug pigs going to retaliate?

[MicaelS]

38. No, but ordinary people might attack on social media.

Then imagine if it gets back to her friends, her employer, etc.

[oldsoftie]

23. Fire the manager. Stupidity.

[lapucelle]

27. A different police encounter in a fast food place caught on surveillance video.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-surveillance-video-shows-officers-final-moments-2011aug16-story.html

[klook]

28. At first I couldn't figure out why cops would go to Starbucks...

I figured maybe there were no Krispy Kremes in the area. But, lo and behold:


https://www.starbucks.com/menu/food/bakery/old-fashioned-glazed-doughnut

[WhiskeyGrinder]

29. "Public safety workers."

[sdfernando]

36. I can't imagine why anyone might feel uncomfortable around cops

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142337923

[MicaelS]

39. So some bad cops make all guilty, right?

We know where that kinds of thinking leads.

[sdfernando]

40. No, but I can see why some people are not comfortable around them

.....and full disclosure here..my brother is a retired cop.

[MicaelS]

41. OK. n/t

[Brainfodder]

37. That was good for a chuckle!

Do we need You Tube how-to videos on proper behavior?

Or is this more a reflection of our times and not just idiotic reactions to a situation by 1 knucklehead?

[Calista241]

42. Back in the day, i worked for a Starbucks.

And it was SOP for cops to drink for free as long as they were in uniform. We didn’t let them order for friends, and 100% of the cops i sold to were respectful and didn’t take advantage of the benefit.

Crime, especially robbery, was higher back then though, so getting a cop car out front, and cops frequenting your place of business had a deterrence effect.

[Blue_Tires]

43. LOL now they know how it feels...

[ret5hd]

51. How what feels? A club to the knee? A bullet...

In the back? A knee on the neck?

Oooohhh..."words". They know how "words" feel.

[Blue_Tires]

55. I meant "To get judged by appearances alone as a major threat"

[ret5hd]

56. Honestly, I wasn't criticizing you or your post.

I agree with you completely. I was just highlighting the fact that they received none of the injuries they so live to dole out.

[Everyman Jackal]

58. An average of 10 LEOs are killed in ambushes each year.

Blacks are killed just because they are Black. Cops are killed just because they are cops.

[matt819]

54. Starbucks could have turned this into a teachable moment

And they could have done this with tact and respect. They chose not to.

And, sure, the manager could have handled it differently. I don't envy the positions that these relatively low-paid workers are put in these days.