Arizona police officers, tasked with protecting the public, apparently made one customer in a Starbucks shop “not feel safe” and were asked to leave.
Tempe Police officers claim they were asked to leave a local Starbucks on the Fourth of July where five of them had gathered for coffee prior to starting their shift because ONE customer complained about feeling unsafe, according to FOX 10 of Phoenix.
(Video: Fox 10)
The Tempe Officers Association reported that a barista at a Starbucks in the East Valley city approached the five officers who had already purchased their coffees and informed them a customer “did not feel safe” with them in the store, asking them to move out of the customer’s line of sight or leave the store.
Although the officers did leave, two of them who are veterans were reportedly “offended and frustrated” by the incident, according to Fox 10.
The president of the police union was “perplexed” by the treatment of the officers and noted how it has become more common.
“It’s become accepted to not trust or to see police and think that we’re not here to serve you, and again, it goes back to — we take great pride of the level of customer service we provide to citizens, and to be looked at as feeling unsafe when you have law enforcement around you is somewhat perplexing to me,” Rob Ferraro, President of TOA, told Fox 10.
The Tempe Officers Association recounted what happened in a series of Twitter messages on Friday.
1/4 A statement from the TOA on The July 4th incident and Starbucks’ treatment of police officers:
Yesterday, on Independence Day, six Tempe police officers stopped by the Starbucks at Scottsdale Road and McKellips for coffee. The officers paid for their drinks…
— Tempe Officers Association (@ToaAz) July 6, 2019
2/4 and stood together having a cup of coffee before their long 4th of July shift. They were approached by a barista, who knew one of the officers by name, because he is a regular at that location. The barista said that a customer “did not feel safe” because of the police…
— Tempe Officers Association (@ToaAz) July 6, 2019
3/4 ..presence. The barista asked the officers to move out of the customer’s line of sight or to leave.
Disappointed, the officers did in fact leave.
This treatment of public safety workers could not be more disheartening. While the barista was polite, making such a request..
— Tempe Officers Association (@ToaAz) July 6, 2019
4/4.. at all was offensive. Unfortunately, such treatment has become all too common in 2019.
We know this is not a national policy at Starbucks Corporate and we look forward to working collaboratively with them on this important dialogue.— Tempe Officers Association (@ToaAz) July 6, 2019
The union did not blame the Starbucks company and said it looked forward “to working collaboratively with them on this important dialogue.”
Another tweet on Friday depicted a parody of the coffee shop’s logo with the words, “Dump Starbucks” and noted that “Several of those cops are #veterans who fought for this country!”
Don’t appreciate @Starbucks asking our #Tempe cops to leave your establishment on the #4thofjuly2019. Several of those cops are #veterans who fought for this country! #ZeroRespect pic.twitter.com/oGaDKhlYX3
— Tempe Officers Association (@ToaAz) July 5, 2019
Neither the customer nor the Starbucks employee were identified and the company did not say if the barista would face any disciplinary action, but did issue a statement.
“We have a deep respect for the Tempe Police and their service to the community,” spokesman Reggie Borges told the Arizona Republic. “We’ve reached out to the Tempe Police Department and Tempe Officers Association to better understand what happened and apologize. We want everyone in our stores to feel welcomed and the incident described is not indicative of what we want any of our customers to feel in our stores.”
Twitter users expressed their disappointment and frustration with the treatment of the officers on the national holiday.
This story makes me ashamed of where we have come as a nation. I ask the question was the “customer” feeling unsafe or guilty? The officers deserve just as much service as anyone else…They were customers too! Shame on #tempestarbucks
— Amy~Full of Life~ (@AmyChai5) July 6, 2019
@Starbucks WTH ?♀️ ???
— Melissa Brown (@misy71) July 6, 2019
And that folks is how you lose business! I would feel safer having them in there!!! Shame on those that felt the need to say it made them uncomfortable and shame on the barista for making them leave. How about telling the other party to leave????
— Tamara Spencer (@nana02202008) July 6, 2019
Had I been at that Starbucks that day, I would have stood with the police and demanded that the person who had complained should be the one to leave. If someone feels uncomfortable anywhere, THEY SHOULD LEAVE.
— Holly Stowe (@HatpinHolly) July 6, 2019
.@starbucks should be ashamed & deal with this quickly. It’s disgusting that the manager allowed such disrespect of officers who put their lives on the line, even for that hateful snowflake customer (who should have left).
I quit drinking SB long ago. More will follow.— Iva Faith Inham (@IvaFaithInham) July 6, 2019
Customer should have left, not the cops! Disgraceful
— BertieC (@tyamd_c) July 6, 2019
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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