Several police officers were asked to leave a Starbucks in Tempe, Arizona, by a barista who told them another patron did not feel safe in their presence.
The incident took place on July 4, Independence Day, just before the six Tempe officers began a long shift. The barista told the officers they either needed to move out of the complaining customer’s field of vision or leave completely because this patron did not “feel comfortable,” according to ABC15 Arizona. The officers, who had just purchased their coffees, opted to leave.
The following morning, the officer’s union Tempe Officers Association tweeted a parody image of the Starbucks logo that said “Dump Starbucks” with a message about the incident. The tweet said, “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.”
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
The Tempe Officers Association issued a statement that read, “This treatment of public safety workers could not be more disheartening. While the barista was polite, making such a request 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.”
A representative for Starbucks said the company is still trying to gather details about what specifically transpired on Thursday.
“We have a deep respect for the Tempe Police and their service to the community. 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,” a statement said.
