In Nashville, there was a cop, recently, that was getting “freebies” from liquor stiores.
Cases of beer.
Which he would then re-sell from an illegal, unlicensed liquor store in his garage.
It’s called a “shakedown”.
I was raised to enforce the ‘‘cops get free lunch’’ rule. I don’t see it as asking for favoritism at all. I see it as offering a sign of respect for what in many cases turns out to be a very
thankless job. I do it for ambulance drivers too. It’s just the way I was raised. I can see the other side of the argument is quite logical, however it doesn’t change my gut instinct that it’s a harmless way to show law enforcement officials and others who risk their lives for your safety that you are grateful.
I think it can go too far, though. My grandparents through marriage were the sheriff and sheriff deputy of a local town, and I saw way too many instances where they took that power too far – the least example being their kids being let off for legal infractions because of who they were. To me there is a huge difference between using your power to get your way and an average random citizen saying, ‘‘Hey, I appreciate the job you’re doing–lunch is on me.’’
On the whole, I object to police being given freebies. Partly because I don’t think that having that particular job merits extra benefits. Being a police officer is an honourable career to pursue but I’d question where you draw the line. Nurses? Doctors? Nursery School teachers? In addition, I think the potential for conflict of interest is too great.
WRT police on transport in the UK, the Met Police are given free transport by showing their warrant cards irrespective of whether they are on duty or not. And irrespective of whether they are on duty or not they are expected to assist if there is trouble on the train.
The officers are on their break. It’s just a happy coincidence. If the gas station owner wants to take advantage of this, he can offer free coffee too - or hire a security guard if he feels like it.
You’re right, I didn’t think through that part of my post. I stand corrected.
I ran a deli in Buffalo, New York. I wouldn’t give discounts on the food, but if they wanted pickles and peripherals, drinks included, have at it. They can have as much of the cheap stuff as they want. I figure that was a good happy medium. Anyone that came in and expected to get stuff for free didn’t come back again; I happily charged them full price.
I also feel the same way about military-types.
Long story short, if you’re not a dick and you do provide a service job, you’ll get preferential treatment. Hell, I’d hand-deliver fresh bread and cookies all over the plaza where I worked early in the morning and let the employees come in and refill their fountain drinks.
Yeah, that’ll teach the owner of station #2 to withhold the free coffee! 
An occasional “it’s on the house” no prob for me. But if the cop is a regular customer, no way; it’s easy for it to become an entitlement.
All very compelling arguments against “freebies” here, but I’m not hearing a lot of talk from the other side of the fence.
I’ll provide that.
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Decent cops, firemen, paramedics etc. know where the free goodies are, and we don’t go to the well too often.
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In places like gas stations and convenience stores we congregate because the coffee is most often free and usually fresh and hot, it’s three in the morning, nothing else is open, and there’s someone to talk to.
Also, we provide a service for the business, which, like it or not is more important to your city or town than you are as an individual, and frankly, the gas station is more likely to be robbed than you are. -
If a person wants to give things away, that’s their business. We’ll hang out there and eat, but a free chicken dinner isn’t going to keep me from responding to your emergency. Don’t be naive.
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That entitlement fear? It’s warranted. Meaningless, but warranted. Plenty of cops and even some firemen feel like it’s an obligation instead of a gift. Those are the exception, and again, even if Ofc. whatshisname gets a free pizza every weekend, it’s won’t keep him from saving your keister. There’s not really a harm to the sense of entitlement, if the owner’s had enough, he just cuts out the deals, a cop’s not going to shake down some deli owner for free anything, that’s just stupid.
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On secondary employ. Cops are often hired back for multiple details. It’s a fact of life. In places where cops are necessary, they’re more of a benefit to the shopkeeper than a simple security guard, and far less of a liability in most cases.
Bottom line is, there are cases where it goes overboard, and those cops, firemen, whatever ought to be shown the door, but for the most part, no harm, no foul.
I am a cop. We have free coffee at the police station 24 hours a day. So to be honest, if a coffee shop or gas station charged me regular price for a cup of joe, I probably wouldn’t go in there as often. Also, many times I don’t really feel inclined to have coffee, but I’ll think to myself “what the hell, I’ll stop in for a few minutes, get a cup, and talk to them for a bit.” In situations like that, the free cup is the deciding factor for me to go in instead of staying warm inside the car or running radar. Plus, I like seeing the people whom I’ve gotten to know over the years.
I’m ok with the free coffee. It costs them perhaps ten cents when you count the cost of the cup, water, and coffee. But I don’t like discounts at restaurants and such. I often have tried to pay full price, but the owner or manager insists on giving the discount; some have even become offended. At times the clerk will say, “hold on, I have to get the manager - you get half price.” I’ll say “that’s ok. I’ll pay regular price” but to no avail. So now everyone behind me has to wait and it becomes VERY embarrassing. I avoid those places now, unless I get a particular craving. Also, its really not as common as many people think; perhaps 1/3 of restaurants give a discount.
But I don’t understand why an outside observer (such as most of you) would really care if a business wanted to give me, a fireman, your neighbor, or anyone a discount. How does it affect you? Do you think it raises the price for the rest of you? Do you really think I would go out of my way to not arrest someone because I got $2.00 off my meal? My job is too important for me to risk malfeasance.
I love my job and I like helping people, but sometimes it’s just nice to know I’m appreciated. That’s all.
The city (or whoever owns those train lines) is harmed. It should have the price of two rides in its little payment box. Instead, it does not.
I am one of those who object to freebies for cops, for pretty much the reasons you quoted AHunter as giving. I don’t think it usually becomes an explicit requirement, but I can’t imagine that it doesn’t often become an implicit requirement, in the sense that at least some cops start thinking negatively about those who make them pay for stuff. This can have no good consequences.
That’s an interesting point, but it just shouldn’t work that way. That’s not what a public police force is for. The businesses in question, arguably, are stealing “police time” away from the rest of the populace.
-FrL-
I don’t have a problem if they ask first. It’s when they come in and think they are entitled to it. I worked at a gas station in college. Most cops catch your eye and nod towards the pop machine or hold up their cup in their air so you can see it. They smile and say thank you. Small percentage would come in grab pop and pastries and just walk out. When they decided no more freebies for anyone, I personally paid out of pocket for minor stuff for the cops/FBI agents I knew well.
Accepting freebies is morally and ethically wrong if you are a police officer. If I were a police officer, I would consider it personally unethical to take freebies, even in the unlikely event that there were no departmental policy against it. If a business owner declined to take my money, I would leave it on the counter, but there is no way I would allow someone else to compromise my integrity by refusing to let me pay. While there are some special circumstances associated with being a police officer, in many ways it’s a job like any other.
In many jobs where you buy supplies or goods for your employer, you can get fired for taking kickbacks from vendors, whether you accept them personally or on behalf of the business. There are hotels and resorts that have a no-tips policy for a variety of reasons, and many of those are very similar to arguments against police getting freebies. If accepting “free” things is considered potentially harmful in the private sector, how much more so is it when working in a public service capacity?
I think it’s a major problem. Consider miss elizabeth’s first story. The cop clearly expected a freebie, and got pissed when he didn’t get it. Suppose ten minutes later, there had been a robbery at the restaurant. Would the pissed-off cop be just a little slow to respond? Might he not work as hard at catching the robber?
Or two calls come in. One is a place that gives cops freebies; the other is a place that doesn’t. Which place is more likely to be favored?
And from that point, it’s a slippery slope. It also adds to the sense of entitlement that is too endemic in police departments: the “no one knows what being a cop is like” attitude that makes it hard to enforce standards or discipline a cop who does something that’s clearly wrong.
There’s also the problem that the cops will end up feeling entitled for free coffee. Everywhere. And they start checking permits or pressuring restaurants that refuse to give it to them.
Or restaurant refuses to give a cop free coffee. The cop gets angry about it in front of witnesses. He later busts the restaurant owner. In court, the defense raises reasonable doubt on the basis that the cop had it in for the owner.
All establishments should treat cops the same, to prevent favoritism (and the appearance of favoritism). In theory, they could all give free coffee, but that’s unenforceable, so the best rule is not to allow the cops to take feebies.
Look, Jack Webb – hardly someone who hated cops – insisted his cops never take freebies (even when offered, they would just leave the money behind).
Jack Webb had his own police force?
Well, I certainly appreciate all the cops that do their jobs in Cleveland! Gee, I hope you’re not the officer I’ve been trying to hit on! You should join us for our next CleveDopeFest picnic…then you could enjoy a free beer with no strings attached.
My father was a policeman for 25 years; my brother for nine. Both refused to ever accept “freebies” from anyone. Dad said it was for his own good – he was convinced that if he started by accepting a free cup of coffee, he’d end up expecting something more, and he didn’t even want to get started down that path.
hijack: Reality, thank you for your signature. I am checking rottentomatoes and imdb, and editing my netflix queue as we speak.
Awesome.
-FrL-
I don’t work for the city of Cleveland, but just outside. I honestly don’t know how those guys/gals do it everyday. But I will try to make it to the picinc!
^^ me too. The mental images were worth a chuckle, though.