A few police officers out of #Tempe, Arizona, claim they were forced to take their coffee to go after a #Starbucks employees asked them to leave the store because a customer reportedly felt unsafe by their presence.
The president of the Tempe Officers Association told @fox10phoenix that a customer told one of the employees they felt unsafe because there were too many officers in the store. It was reported to be at least five officers present. The officers, who reportedly had just bought their drinks and stood near the front of the store, were then asked by one of the baristas to leave on behalf of that customer, and so they left.
On Friday, the association took to social media, and posted a “Dump Starbucks” photo and now the hashtag #DumpStarbucks is trending on #Twitter. Tension between police and the community in the Phoenix area has been high ever since the controversial arrest of a pregnant woman that is currently under investigation.
Starbucks issued the following statement on the matter: “We have deep respect for the Tempe Police Department and its service to our community. We have reached out to understand better what may have happened in our store, and to apologize for any misunderstanding or inappropriate behavior that may have taken place.”
While the president didn’t necessarily call for a boycott of the popular coffee chain, he said the incident is a new reality for officers. But others on social media are definitely saying their done with the chain.
“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,” TOA President Rob Ferraro told the news station in a phone interview.
The original tweet from the TOA 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”
The “Dump Starbucks” hashtag on Twitter garnered some support but also a lot of criticism.
One user said, “Those of y’all who want to #DumpStarbucks because some police were asked to leave are the same people who were real quiet when two black men were arrested for waiting at a Starbucks. But I digress.”
What are your thoughts on this one, Roommates? Let us know!
TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh
