# Do police still get meals comped from restaurants when on duty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 26, 2016, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235 "2016-02-26T19:02:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/21 "2016-02-27T16:05:42Z")
The problem is that while many or even most cops would see it as a perk and be grateful for it, there will always be the ones who see it as a right. It would be a brave restaurateur or shopkeeper who chased after a cop in uniform demanding payment. From perks like that comes corruption. The cop who demands a sandwich might soon decide that he would rather have the cash. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/22 "2016-02-27T16:25:46Z")
In a former life I ran a software company that sold to various government agencies, but most often to police & fire departments. As such I dealt with fairly senior people, not so much the rank and file. In almost all cases they were scrupulous to the point of silly about accepting absolutely no favors. At a convention we couldn’t spring for their coffee at the snack bar. Us buying their lunch while on a sales, planning, or tech support visit was unthinkable. We stopped offering after the 2nd refusal; that seemed the most polite way to do it. We were in a sales role and these folks were in a purchasing role. Which is a different situation from a beat cop or local EMT vs. a restaurant or Kwik-e-Mart. As a citizen it was heartening to see how seriously they took this stuff. Then again we saw the exact opposite up at the political level. More than one sale was lost due to mysterious insistence by a councilman or Mayor on a different (often shell) vendor. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/23 "2016-02-27T16:42:24Z")
I had a similar experience when I worked for the NHS. My office was audited by a government auditor and the two people who spent nearly a week trawling through all my files, would not even accept a coffee from the office machine, to which we all contributed. They said that it was impossible to draw a line anywhere but zero. A coffee, a biscuit, a lunch… ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/24 "2016-02-28T03:44:02Z")
Used to manage a Pizza Hut. 50% discount. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/25 "2016-02-28T06:51:28Z")
The local convenience store gives police and uniformed security personnel driving company vehicles free coffee and soft drinks. No better security than a police car sitting out front. But restaurants, I’ve heard police avoid them because they cant finish a meal without somebody coming up and giving them a complaint or something. Their favorite place around here, I know they like it because they can hide their cars in back and eat in a side area so nobody sees them. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/26 "2016-02-28T16:11:27Z")
No one has given me a free meal but we do get discounts. These are places we go to day after day. We are friends with the owners. We know their families. They are happy to have us there. And we tip well so the workers aren’t screwed. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/27 "2016-02-28T18:34:58Z")
It has been many years but when I was in high school I worked part time in a few fast food operations. All of them fed on duty police officers free. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/28 "2016-02-28T19:24:48Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > The local convenience store gives police and uniformed security personnel driving company vehicles free coffee and soft drinks. No better security than a police car sitting out front. > > But restaurants, I’ve heard police avoid them because they cant finish a meal without somebody coming up and giving them a complaint or something. Their favorite place around here, I know they like it because they can hide their cars in back and eat in a side area so nobody sees them. I see police officers eating in restaurants all the time. In fact, such a sighting the other day is what prompted me to create this thread. I guess I should have waited around to see if they paid their check. mmm ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/29 "2016-02-28T23:11:49Z")
A couple years back I got a police discount. There’s was more than one group in military uniform because my old unit was about to have their eparture ceremony before overseas deployment. When we answered the question about why we were there the manager approved the higher police discount. It was 50%. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/30 "2016-02-29T14:45:05Z")
> [@PoppaSan](#): > > But the politicians that set these rules have no such compunctions. They even have organizations called PAC’s set up to accept such civic minded donations. Sure. But politicians are _supposed_ to be beholden to their supporters. Civil service rules were actually created to _reduce_ the influence of politicians; before the adoption of merit-based civil service systems politicians would give the good government jobs to their supporters and create an entirely partisan system of government. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/31 "2016-02-29T15:07:29Z")
> [@SpyOne](#): > > In my current job (convenience store), the rule is essentially the same: police and fire and EMTs (on duty) get the “employee discount”, which simple is that any beverage in a cup is free. We also include Sheriffs and Deputies. > . Back in the 1990s, a Houston-based convenience store chain (Stop 'N Go) had special blue coffee cups with a badge on them for cops to get their free coffee in. I always figured it was so cops would deliberately go by there and visit their stores, thereby reducing crime. And it seemed to work well; anecdotally, there always seemed to be a cop car at most Stop 'n Gos that I went by, and I always felt like if I had to go to a convenience store at night, that was the chain to go to as a result. Don’t know if they kept that up though; I moved to Dallas, and the local Stop ‘N Go to my parents’ house turned into a Valero gas station. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/32 "2016-02-29T15:52:51Z")
In my whole life, in Britain, I have never once seen a police officer in an hotel, restaurant, cafe or pub. Nor bounty hunters either. > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I see police officers eating in restaurants all the time. In fact, such a sighting the other day is what prompted me to create this thread. > > I guess I should have waited around to see if they paid their check. > mmm You could have just asked them. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/33 "2016-02-29T15:59:08Z")
There has to be some kind of balance between wanting free security and discouraging corrupt police officers. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/34 "2016-02-29T16:14:10Z")
> [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](#): > > There has to be some kind of balance between wanting free security and discouraging corrupt police officers. I agree, but I’m having a hard time seeing a police officer get corrupted by the cost of an inexpensive meal, and I don’t know of a case where a cop demanded anything for free. If you think a cop is going to turn a blind eye to a restaurant owner selling drugs to kids because he got some free coffee then we have a much bigger problem to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/35 "2016-02-29T16:18:32Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > In my whole life, in Britain, I have never once seen a police officer in an hotel, restaurant, cafe or pub. Where, do you imagine, do they eat when a meal falls during their shifts?😕 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/36 "2016-02-29T16:34:28Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If you think a cop is going to turn a blind eye to a restaurant owner selling drugs to kids because he got some free coffee then we have a much bigger problem to worry about. \*\*Kayaker \*\*spoke upthread about being let off from speeding tickets. Is that because he gives cops free food? If so, that’s a troubling trend and leads to at least the perception that we have unfair enforcement. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/37 "2016-02-29T17:01:35Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > \*\*Kayaker \*\*spoke upthread about being let off from speeding tickets. Is that because he gives cops free food? If so, that’s a troubling trend and leads to at least the perception that we have unfair enforcement. I could see that as a problem, though not a major one in itself. Of course I’ve been stopped for speeding and only given a warning also, but not from any officer I gave free coffee and clamcakes to, and I doubt that would have changed their mind. A cop who was a customer at my restaurant who paid for whole meals might do the same for me just because he knows me. Perhaps if a policy was codified allowing some maximum value of free goods and services it might help to prevent problems. But I still can’t see a police officer risking his career to cover up a serious crime because he got some free coffee. If there’s a problem to deal with here I’d look much further up the chain at the system of legal bribery for the elected officials who set the laws to start with. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/38 "2016-02-29T17:01:39Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > \*\*Kayaker \*\*spoke upthread about being let off from speeding tickets. Is that because he gives cops free food? If so, that’s a troubling trend and leads to at least the perception that we have unfair enforcement. Yeah, I did not expect a quid pro quo, nor was there any hinting around that it occurred. I was pulled over for speeding, and it was, “hey, kayaker, how you doing! You really need to slow down, dude, have a nice day”. I _think_ the same thing would have happened if the cop wasn’t a customer who has gotten a few freebies. I don’t know an objective way to determine that, however. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/39 "2016-02-29T17:05:18Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > Where, do you imagine, do they eat when a meal falls during their shifts?😕 No doubt at the Station Canteen mostly. However it is possible to go 12 hours without eating. Otherwise maybe they have packed lunches in their vehicles: outside the cities it is rare to see one not in a police car dressed in an unimpressive yellow hi-viz jacket. Actually, for much of the earlier 20th century it was common for coppers to live a few years after training in shared police houses or barracks attached to the station, so perhaps they could go to their own quarters for a snack if they felt unsociable. I very vaguely think student nurses had similar mandatory shared arrangements during training. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235/40 "2016-02-29T17:05:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I _think_ the same thing would have happened if the cop wasn’t a customer who has gotten a few freebies. I don’t know an objective way to determine that, however. Pretty easy to test, just get in your car and hit the gas, eventually you’ll get pulled over by a cop that doesn’t know you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-police-still-get-meals-comped-from-restaurants-when-on-duty/747235.md?page=3)