Do police still get meals comped from restaurants when on duty?

Factual Questions
61

And that’s exactly the problem with it - you should expect them to help you because that’s what they are paid to do. And I shouldn’t have to feel like maybe they will respond faster to your restaurant than mine , because you give them free meals and I don’t.

It's usually not much different than the rules for other public employees in the same jurisdiction.The rule is usually not "police officers can't accept free food",  but something more along the lines of "public employees can't seek or accept accept gifts of more than nominal value than are given to them because of their official position".  If the rules are written to allow gifts of nominal value ,  it may be acceptable for the police to accept free coffee or soda , just like a restaurant inspector might be permitted to accept a promotional pen from a restaurant.
62

And BTW, the concern about corruption is not that the cop who gets free meals is going to let the convenience store become a drug market. It’s that maybe he won’t give a citation for underage alcohol sales to the store that gives him free meals (while still citing other stores) or that she will start expecting free goods and services and places that didn’t offer or that it will go from free meals in uniform (or on duty) to getting a family of four into a movie theater or amusement park “on the arm”.*

  • Not an exaggeration- I’m not a police officer but I carry a shield and police officers and coworkers have told me about all sorts of places that “offer courtesy” or I can “tin my way in”