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The idea of police sometimes getting a free meal or a cup of coffee is one with which we're all familiar. Apparently it's a bit of a hot button issue in the township of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.A local Wendy's franchisee encourages the practice and has officers simply sign a receipt for their purchases. His logic: giving food to local and state police encourages them to keep coming back and creates a feeling of security for customers and employees alike.
Not everyone is happy with the practice of police officers getting free grub, though. Wilkes-Barre Township Police Chief Robert Brozowski couldn't stand seeing his officers entering the station house bearing bags of food from nearby eateries. So he revised the department's rules. Officers are now forbidden to accept anything from businesses. Brozowski says he feels that the boys in blue make a decent enough buck that they don't need a free lunch.
What do you think? Should John Law be entitled to the occasional cheeseburger or donut?
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11-16-2006 @3:10PM Sindy said... I don't know about the rest of the Country, but here in NC cops really DON'T make that great of a living.In fact they are tragically under-paid. Most convience stores here give them free coffee and drinks and many resturants give them decent discounts. I know that some establishments do this to encourage the Police's "presence" around their establishments. Others do it to thank them for putting their lives on the line everyday. I am a paramedic and there are a few places who also give EMS some of these perks. I don't expect it, but I do appreciate it when it happens. There are days where we don't even have a chance to sit down to a meal or stand in a line at a fast food resturant (to get a call just as we get to the cashier). We do a lot of eating, driving down the road on the way to calls. It's the nature of the beast and most of us that do it, do it because we love helping people and we CERTAINATELY aren't getting rich from it. Let's save the restrictions of perks for Politicians who make WAY more money than your typical public servants (yet can take whole vacations for free) and Hollywood stars who can afford to buy whatever they want yet are given obscenely expensive gifts for going to an award show and let us who REALLY serve the public enjoy a free cup of coffee once in awhile!
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11-16-2006 @3:39PM Crosius said... Entitled? No. Permitted? Yes.
The proprietor of any business is free to extend any level of hospitality to any patron. Cops are patrons. The idea that there should be a rule that a person should be required to refuse an act of generosity because of their involvment in the executive branch of law (I bet Judges can still accept a free coffee, as can the governor, so long as it is not a bribe) creates a division between the community and the police.
Dividing the police from the community aggravates the Us vs. Them mentality and encourages the kind of psychological distancing and ultimately disfunctional behaviour exhibited in the "Standford Prison Experiment."
If a cop imposes on the proprietor, though, that's extortion and that should be punished. Even if it's a request to let a tab slide for a week. The uniform should not be used to pressure special treatment.
Bribery, (and accepting bribes) similarly is a specific case that should be punished.
But making such a sweeping rule essentially makes any offering made to an officer an implied bribe, and that's just assuming guilt without evidence.
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11-16-2006 @4:23PM Jim Vetter said... I don't have a problem with doughnut shops and coffee houses giving out free coffee to the officers. I was an armed security guard at one time, and I always had to lug around a thermos of coffee just to stay awake and alert on the job. It's nice to have local businesses donate something useful to the local police. It also fosters good will within the community. What I am against is some restaurants serving up steak dinners to officers on the beat. I feel it keeps them tied up in one spot for an inordinate amount of time, and the taxpayers who pay their salaries are looking for protection too. Police Officers tend to take advantage of a good situation the same as the rest of us would, and it should be discouraged.
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11-16-2006 @4:23PM J Dorico said... I don't see any harm in offering 'small' inexpensive food items to police, fire, EMS but do get annoyed when officers ask if we give county employees discounts. Working in electronics sales the last twelve years I have been asked by police officers if we offer country employees discounts. I always reply why you and not other employees, i.e., low-salaried retail clerks. They reply that they put their lives on the line for us. My reply, I have been robbed three times without hope on seeing a police officer.
Settle for a coffee and be thankful you have a job with better benefits than the retail clerk you are soliciting.
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11-16-2006 @3:57PM jumper said... I don't see a problem with giving cops meals free of charge. They put their lives on the line everyday. I would also like to see teachers get a break on things, they do so much to educate and care for our young. And teachers and police officers are grossly underpaid for what they do.
I come from a family of that has both teachers and law enforcement officers and I know that they go above and beyond on an everyday basis. So what's a free frosty or doughnut gonna hurt.
Hell, people have no problem tipping the person behind the counter at Starbucks that rings you up.
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11-16-2006 @4:21PM Jen Stone said... Contrary to popular belief, Police Officers do not make near enough money for what they do. There are 3 in my family, so I know from experience. Free food is no big deal. If they were taking cash that would be something altogether different.
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11-16-2006 @4:20PM Michele said... Sindy - RIGHT ON!
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11-16-2006 @4:23PM Spoonman said... Absotively! When I worked in the food service industry, we always gave free food to the cops. Forget the fact that no salary can truly compensate for the risks these folks take everyday JUST GOING TO WORK, they also get a ton of grief from those they're there to protect and serve. People who give them free food are just extending their gratitude and letting them know that at least some of us appreciate them fully.
Crosius hit the nail on the head: it's not the department's job to tell proprietors of stores what they can and can't do. As stated, as long as it isn't expected and required, then they should be allowed to take the gifts. And, Sindy, we always gave freely to the EMTs, firefighters and soldiers, too (if they came in uniform). :)
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11-16-2006 @5:05PM Sandra Lee said... I also think they should give teachers free food also, free coffe, free donuts free drinks etc. They make less money than cops. Plus they have to put up with more BS than the cops do teaching the little brat darlings!
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11-16-2006 @5:10PM Cindy said... My daughter is a cop and they sure don't make much. And, why not give the cops free meals, around here they don't give out free meals, but they should, they give dicounts. The cops around East Texas don't make enough to barly live. And, they put their lives on the line every day and even when they are off duty they are still putting their lives on the lines. So, who ever complains about cops getting something free has a problem with their selves or has a beef with the police dept. because they don't want to abide by the laws. That's plain stupid!
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11-16-2006 @5:14PM ABORING1 said... They CHOOSE to put their lives on the line. They CHOSE to be officers. They should CHOOSE not to eat fast food. Give me break. I can understand a cup of coffee but free meals? What about the doctors that save lives? Where do you draw the line. Why not college students? Flash your ID...free dinner for CHOOSING to get an education. Total slippery slope. half of them are fatasses anyway. Now I know why.
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11-16-2006 @5:18PM Sahil Malik said... Cops should get free food. No question about that.
Now, go ahead and put a top limit to it - no carry out. No meal over $15. And they sign a receipt and it gets reimbursed.
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11-16-2006 @5:31PM Bradley said... Who doesn't love donuts? It seems to be a small thing for cops or even firefighters to get free food for putting their lives on the line.
http://saucesandstuff.blogspot.com/
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11-16-2006 @5:56PM Michele said... I believe that it is a good thing when restaurants offer free food. It provides a good service for police officers to stop in their establishments for security. When my husband and I are eating and there are police and/or servicemen, we offer to buy their meal. Not for anything other than an acknowledgement that we appreciate the job they do every day.
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11-16-2006 @5:38PM Anthony Trocchia said... No employees serving the public should get free meals or free anything. They all know the salary going into the profession.
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11-16-2006 @8:01PM T.C. McCloud said... years ago I worked for a 24 hour WAWA in NJ and we used to give the Police officers free coffee if they came in...and it encouraged them to come in, and i would guess that it cut down on robbery attempts, and other problems.
I see nothing wrong with the practice, as long as its small, like a cup of coffee....When it gets to be "sacks", then there's a problem
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11-16-2006 @6:17PM Catarry said... Sorry, folks...I'm a cop's daughter and while I understand the arguments for accepting free meals, the downside is that it erases the line between service in the public interest, compensated by the public, and special involvement or attention for special treatment.
What if you don't give a discount to cops for electronics? How do you know the officer to whom you denied the discount is going to faithfully check your establishment as he does others?
It's a slippery slope, and there are lots of cops who see it for what it is and pay each and every time.
And BTW, cops who eat lunch aren't spending too much time in one place, they're taking a lunch break. They should pay, but they shouldn't be grudged their negotiated break time.
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11-16-2006 @6:21PM Deb said... For all of the spitting in the face, being cursed at like your a dog, being beat upon, being shot at, and the rest of the %#@* they have to endure... cops deserve ANY small favor we can extend to them for keeping us safe. No, they are not everywhere. How can they be? Most dept are understaffed. But they do the best they can... so they get my vote FOR free food.
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11-16-2006 @9:04PM bdw said... There can be a fine line between a gift and corruption. Owners love to have a police officer eating in their establishment for the security; where I now live it cost about $140 an hour to hire an officer and his car. A half hour meal won't cost anywhere near $70, plus included good will.
On the other hand, as an officer, you want to meet the locals under pleasant, social conditions, so they can see you as a human being. People will often tell a personally trusted officer things that they wouldn't tell and anonymous cop, and help in so many other ways.
As a much younger man, I was a deputy sheriff in Colorado. The sheriff's solution was that we were allowed to accept a cup of coffee, tea, or a soft drink, and that we were to pay for our meals. Everybody understood this, and it worked, although we often received dessert or an appetizer as "samples" or "leftovers" or "experiments--what do you think?"
It worked from both ends.
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11-16-2006 @6:38PM Susan said... Most governmental units have RULES regarding the acceptance of gifts by its government employees and the employees are made aware of these rules. The county in Florida where I live limits the gifts that may be accepted by its employees to $25.00 per year from a single donor. The gift of a $4.00 latte 5 days a week for 50 weeks comes to $1,000.00 a year from the latte establishment, well over the acceptable limit.
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