You may not like cops, but most of them do their jobs well 99+% of the time. They have to see people at their worst on a daily basis and try to resolve issues with people who don't want to deal with them. It's not a profession I could ever function in.

they were people minding their own business like everyone else and should have been left alone.

because some customer "doesn't feel safe."

if all are minding their own business, which looked like the case.

....as I wrote above, it's understandable.

We've only heard one side of the story, from an extremely biased source.

Actually, if openly-armed ANYBODY sits down and eats where I'm eating, I get up and leave.

There's no way I'd ask management to make somebody else leave, though.

They minded their business and I minded mine. I felt no need to move.

I don't eat with people flashing heat.

The ones that hide it I can't do anything about.

But if I can spot 'em, I'm outa there.

It's got nothing to do with them minding their own business.

And like I said, that goes for ANYBODY. But where I live, it's overwhelmingly cops.

But then I go back to doing what I was doing. The gun owners being police officers is not remotely as concerning as sleaze balls walking in packing heat.

If I can help it, I don't eat around guns.

that was a go-to lunch spot for police from four different agencies. They'd come in, have lunch, pay, and leave. Interestingly, the officers from different jurisdictions didn't mingle.

I don't want to see places of public accomodation start on this slippery slope.

the AFL-CIO and in fact prides itself in being "an independent local organization having no affiliation with 'big labor unions'." Police unions aren't usually a place to look for labor solidarity, but TOA seems to go above and beyond when it comes to looking out for its own and fuck you.

I hope they don't expect a fast response should they get robbed or have an emergency.

The good guys would never do that.

Would they?

Starbucks already threw them out, it would be hypocritical in the extreme to call the police for help at this point.

Are you suggesting that cops are spiteful thugs who have to be coddled in order to do their jobs?

The poster is suggesting the cops should be spiteful thugs who have to be coddled in order to do their jobs. That it's only right and proper for the cops retaliate against the staff and the customers of this shop.

Do you really think it's all right for the police to discriminate against the all the other people who work there, as well as the customers, because one employee asked them to move to another spot or leave?

They asked them to move and they chose to leave instead.

But such things never happen in America, right?

even though they usually park illegally to do so.

unarmed people.

Another thing to consider is just WHY these cops were making a customer feel uncomfortable, to the point that a Barista is ready to lose his/her job over asking them to move or leave?

The idea that they were totally minding their own business and not 'talking shit' seems ... well, possible, sure ... but somewhat unlikely to me.

male and female, drinking coffee at a popular spot some years back during a spate of police ambushing, They were all executed. I always was surprised that given their training and numbers they could not defend themselves. The elephant of surprise.

I don’t know the police culture in Tempe. But I don’t recall any group of officers on a break at
a Peets or Starbucks brutalizing customers.

On the other hand, a barista panicked over two black males wanting to use the restroom at a trendy coffee shop not too long ago, refused service, and called police who arrested them.

It’s a tough job baristering. Looks like some more in-services needed.

To this improbable story?

bring it on themselves

All we are hearing right now is coming from the police union.

"Unfortunately, such treatment has become all too common in 2019." Oh, bullshit. The reason this made the news in the first place is because stuff like this almost never happens to cops.

In order to believe their version you have to believe a customer complained to Starbucks for absolutely no good reason and an employee of Starbucks asked them to move to the other side of the store for absolutely no good reason. Instead of moving they left the store and whined to their union instead of asking the official police PR spokesperson to make a tweet or statement. It's also completely uncommon for cops to act like aggressive assholes, right?

Definitely more to this story. I doubt we'll hear it from Starbucks, but hopefully some of the other customers will step up. Lordy, I hope there are tapes.

The side of the employee.

There has to be more to it than this.

Until someone can show me proof that the cops were doing something wrong I believe the employee was out of line. Let the customer come forward and explain why he or she was afraid of the cops drinking coffee.

Starbucks is issuing another public apology more than a year after officers arrested two black men in a Philadelphia store.

This time, though, the coffee giant is apologizing to officers with the Tempe Police Department in Arizona.

In a statement Friday, the Tempe Officers Association said six officers walked into a Starbucks to enjoy some coffee on July Fourth. The group was approached by a barista who told the officers that a customer "did not feel safe" because of their presence.

"The barista asked the officers to move out of the customer's line of sight or to leave," the association said. The officers ultimately left the store "disappointed."

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

-more-

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/starbucks-apologizes-after-six-officers-say-they-were-asked-to-leave-a-store-in-arizona/ar-AADXm16?li=BBnb7Kz