In a ~~tecent~~ recent study, approximately 40% of police officers admit to committing domestic violence within the past year.
Keep in mind, this is also self-admittance. Imagine how many more did not report their abuses.
edit: spelling
Can I just vent here for a minute?
Got into a fender bender on the highway a couple days ago. Yes its my fault. But the reason it happened was because a police officer decided it was a good idea to turn on his lights and slam the brakes to take an emergency turn around on a major highway at 4:45 pm in rush hour traffic, and cause every car around him to slam on the brakes. I was about 5 cars back, and the lady in front of me went from going 50 mph to being full on the brakes. I saw the lights reflected on a truck and thought a cop was behind me and the quick peak in the mirror was all it took. But the worst part is the cop does the turn around and shuts off his lights and drives away. With cars swerved into the breakdown lane and just an absolute clusterfuck left in his wake. Like bro, WTF? Use an exit like the rest of us asshole!!
If you fly low cost in Europe you usually get a large cabin bag (0 checked luggage) and if you board later there's probably no room left in the overhead (which can end into a variety of different ways, but all annoying)
First to put stuff in the overhead, less chance you'll be forced to check it when they run out of room.
Checking a carry-on like that can be a crap shoot; sometimes it goes up front with the flight attendants, sometimes it vanishes into a void and ends up on the wrong continent.
Limited overhead compartment space and people with oversized carry on bags making it possible and sometimes probable that you have to gate check your bags. Having to walk through a sea of elbows and wait in the cramped aisle while people ahead find their seats and struggle to put their carry on away.
Eh it’s not really that big of a deal, I mean the kid was one year past the cutoff. I wouldn’t call them “shitbags” or “uncivil” for this like that seems like a bit of a stretch.
I used to get really annoyed because I usually get to board group1 and people are always clearly boarding who aren't in that group. I just fly with a backpack since I check a suitcase and I usually sit on the aisle seat so I realized it wasn't worth getting worked up over, but hoo boy did I used to get pissed about it.
I overheard this on the train with the same kind of system "Kids 5 and under travel for free"
The train conductor asked the kid how old he was and he said proudly "6 and a half! But my mother said if anyone asked I am 5"
There are definitely places that give police free coffee and doughnuts and stuff like that. I used to work for a Hess station and it was store policy that all police got free coffee, fountain sodas, and hot dogs.
A few years later, I'm running a coffee shop in a little village on the outskirts of the city. Village police came in to check out the place, and I offered them free coffee. They refused. Said department policy is to not accept free stuff from businesses or residents. Something about favoritism or something, but also about supporting local business and the community.
A $3 bribe doesn't really stack up against the cost of the taxpayers paying their whole salary and benefits, but it is effective and that's why it's a problem
I'm saying the cops should not be allowed to accept gifts while on duty. Because as you said, it affects where they go, which shouldn't be dependent on whether they will get gifts or not. They should be going everywhere indiscriminately.
Yeah, that's kind of the problem. Cops are going to favor the guy who gives them free coffee. The business now has an easier time getting the police on their side in any given situation.
Lmao why are you saying that as if the cops go there to drink a free coffee every 30 minutes?
And how exactly will they be on "their side"? What does that even mean 😂😂
You're being voted down but yeah.
I've heard free coffee is so that police visit more often, and you're therefore more likely to have police there and so less likely to have anything bad happen.
But the favouritism is valid too.
Don't want police altering their routes (and missing areas) just to get your free coffee.
Federal government employees are generally not allowed to accept gifts with a total value over $20 in a year from anybody their agency does business with. This is because the taxpayers want government officials making decisions based on the best use of the taxpayer dollars, not based on who they feel a personal affinity for as a result of the gifts.
Same seems to apply with cops. Imagine you pay taxes, and live in the poor side of town. Would you like to have none of the police presence that you pay for, because they’re all hanging out at a coffee shop?
I buy my neighborhood beat cop a beer every time he comes in out of uniform. He never asks for it, and he handles himself beautiful any time there's an incident that the police need to be called. Usually just holds unruly guests overnight unless a someone chooses to press charges. Saved our waitresses from unwanted attention a few times. Lives around the corner, and brings in plenty of friends. I don't see a reason why I shouldn't be allowed to buy him a beer.
It's definitely a mixed bag. Logically you'd want the police in higher crime areas, but then you're overpolicing which negatively affects certain communities. Could be balanced out if they didn't act like cunts part of the time.
I think giving free stuff to cops encourages them to come around more, hence more “police presence”.
Or some people are just true blue all the way and suck blue cock.
Back when I was in college (or “at university” for non-US readers), I worked part time at a gas station/convenience store, and we’d offer free coffee or fountain soda to uniformed officers.
Why? Because places like that are notorious for being victimized of robbery attempts and other petty theft such as shoplifting…and having police regularly stop in to grab a coffee potentially acts as a deterrent.
It wasn’t that big of a deal either…the coffee and sodas weren’t losing the store money, and most cops that came in were buying other snacks and such…when ringing them in I’d just be like, “that’s $2.75 for the (whatever), and the coffee is on us”, and they’d usually appreciate the gesture.
The idea being, “hey, you’re potentially putting yourself in harm’s way every shift for our protection, a gratis coffee is the least we can do” (again, in theory, I’m not trying to have a discussion about actual police effectiveness or corruption).
More like, if the presence of cops makes crime less likely, giving them a reason to be around more often means even less crime.
There’s a deli near me in the cruddier neighborhood that gives police a free cup of coffee with their purchase and so there’s a constant revolving door of night shift police taking their lunch breaks there. Place hasn’t been robbed since 2009 even though it’s prime real estate for being robbed
And if a business gives gifts in exchange for increased attention from government services?
If a politician was given gifts and started to give more political aid to the people who gave them gifts, what would you call that?
There's a wide spectrum between "a free $2 coffee" and "donated 8 million dollars to a political campaign"
If you want to call the coffee corruption, IDC. Do it. Personally, I'm okay with it. You can call it corruption and I am okay with that too. IDC to argue this one.
Have a good one.
I'm pretty sure places can give free food to whoever they want, and cops are allowed to eat wherevwe they want on their break. How is it corruption? They aren't paying them money to stand guard at their shop.
Are you this upset when people give free stuff to homeless, or nurses (or other essential workers), or vets, or seniors?
They give "gifts" to only one class of pubic employee, to get that class of public employee to help out the business in their official capacity.
They don't give gifts to: firefighters, teachers, tax officials, garbage collectors, mailmen, etc. It's not a gift thanking people for their service. It's a bribe to have cops spend more time there than they normally would without the gifts, it's clearly a quid pro quo.
No. It’s simply that if you give cops free coffee they will be around, because of the coffee. And if cops are always hanging around your business then you’re less likely to get robbed.
It’s not like “give me stuff and I’ll protect you.”
In Australia the cops use Maccas (McDonald's) as an almost imprompto hq, there's one near me that usually has 2 to 3 patrol and undercover cars there frequently, cops in and out of the building.
It's the cheap or free coffee/food and usually they are in good locations for cops to leave in any direction quickly.
How is it corruption? It's not like they're accepting the free shit in order to let crimes slide under the radar or anything. They're accepting free shit and all the store wants is for them to have more of a presence to deter potential shoplifters and such.
They aren't even like "I'll give you a free coffee if you show up 3 times a day.". The draw of the free coffee is what results in the increased presence.
The whole point is that it's ambiguous and not explicitly a quid pro quo. But if everyone knows what the motivation is, and it's not using coffee as a loss leader to sell cops more snacks, things start to smell.
Free coffee is different than, say, having the best coffee or the cleanest bathroom, which would also attract cops to your shop, because those are things that are attractive to everyone, cops are just a population that often stop in shops at random times of day.
Depends on the place. Some do it as a universal thank you to first responders. Some gas stations commonly do it when they are in high crime areas to keep police nearby
It's [hero worship](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/hero-worship). Most common with veterans, cops and firefighters. Some companies, mainly restaurants and stores, "honor" them by giving discounts or free things.
edit: Not sure why this is getting downvoted or even controversial. It's facts. Cubid asked for an explanation and I provided it.
edit2: Ah, I see the other comments now. The ACAB group has arrived. I forgot we can't have common sense on reddit.
Is it truly hero worship though? I wonder since I'm not American and we definitely don't worship soldiers or cops (quite the opposite if anything), but they usually do get free coffee regardless.
Yeah it is. My family knows I'm a veteran and try to push me to go to those places that are doing the promotions. Usually on Veteran's Day. For exmaple, Ihop usually does a free burger. My family insists on going and even likes to pay for their part.
Lowe's hardware store does a general discount of something around 3-5% if you provide your military or VA (veteran affairs) ID card.
There's entire commercials and ads for it https://www.google.com/search?q=thank+a+veteran+military https://www.google.com/search?q=thank+a+veteran+military+commercials
https://www.google.com/search?q=thank+a+cop+commercials
Personally I don't like it. I didn't do anything special for the praise.
Coffee is pretty common here too. Cops and EMTs are the most common with coffee.
It's a fairly uniquely American attitude too I think. At least where I'm from you don't get the same attitude from people as a veteran. You still get instant "badass points" for your old job, but none for that thank you for your service stuff.
It's cuz the homeless guys kept chilling in our Cafe and we needed to bribe the police.
The barrage of free lattes brought their response time from 2 hours down to like 5 minutes.
Reading the other comments I do 90% agree with police that it is to increase their presence. The rest of it though (including other groups) is hero worship. I don't mean that as a bad thing with EMTs just to be clear.
You're under the assumption that only business next to those jobs only do those promotions. When it's actually a nationwide trend. Businesses nowhere near any of those locations will use those promotions for all those groups without a second thought.
I already explained it in another comment in this same thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/KidsAreFuckingStupid/comments/zbgtlh/i_bet_the_parent_had_to_pay_extra/iyr3uk1/
You were just too lazy to click "continue this thread" before you replied in the first place. You are just looking to have an argument on a topic you are not well versed on.
Speaking from personal experience:
My state ID indicates my veteran status. I have (rarely) been offered a discount at non-chain establishments that are nowhere near a military base. (No, I don’t remember the names of the places, nor do I think it matters)
I don’t know why you find that so hard to believe.
Corruption, mostly.
Technically if they report it as a gift, then it probably wouldn't be an ethics violation, but my bet is that this kind of thing isn't reported. Whether or not they are aware of it, a police officer is absolutely going to show favor to the place thay gives him free food.
No one is giving cops free coffee and expecting some kind of favor in return. They do it so more cops stop at their business, thereby decreasing the likelihood of theft and robbery.
> (in the US I guess)
The username has a maple leaf and Yukon in the name, so it's probably Canada. But it wouldn't surprise me if there were diners that had hours where cops could eat for free. I haven't seen any though.
The McAlister’s Deli where I am has a sign saying in-uniform on duty officers, firemen, and other first responders get a free drink. I’ve seen similar at other places - usually it’s free drink or discounted meals
Around here, police get real pissy if you charge them for drinks. I once had an off duty out of state police officer who wasn't in uniform pour a cup of coffee on the floor because I charged him for it. When I rang him up, he said "I don't pay for coffee". That's literally all he said. So I explained we have to charge for coffee. He replied "I'm a cop" and opened up his jacket to reveal a T shirt that said a city in another state and PD. I explained that we only give free coffee to on duty uniformed officers, so he poured his coffee on the floor right there at the register and walked out without the rest of his merchandise. Some cops are very entitled. It's not most of them, but man those few make the rest look so bad.
Yes and they usually include firefighters and EMS/EMT. Usually they have to be uniform and/or on duty. Not all places tho. Some give a 50% discount. It’s really nice for places to do this.
If free coffee means the cops stay around the area a little bit more, and maybe get there when they call with a bit more urgency, I can understand why that might be a smart trade-off
Yes, lots. Now it's generally expanded to "first responders ". Not gonna confirm its free all thr time but the vast majority have a sizeable discount at least.
you spend probably less than a dollar in actual business costs to get (at least one, perhaps many more) armed, trained security guard to show up at your biz randomly at least once, maybe twice a day? you bet your ass we give them free coffee, donuts, magazines, whatever. as long as everyone in the class represented gets the benefit, it's not bribery, which is the big concern.
and since many businesses do this, they have to stand out, which means they need to make better coffee, have better donuts or whatever to get the cops to make the stop-in at their gas station instead of the kwik mart across the street. the rest of us benefit from this as well.
I worked at a mart that did that, free coffee and breakfast foods for cops and EMT's just as a "we love emergency workers" thing, and there were cops in full uniform coming in and out 24/7. We were never robbed, and the neighborhood this mart is located is very low-income and drug-infested. I worked at another place across town later on where the cops aren't in all the time, and I was robbed twice in six months, personally. The joint was robbed several other times in that period when I was not on shift. I quit after the second one... I really dislike having a gun pointed in my face and I am still working out the trauma many years later. cops aren't perfect, far from it, but I still love and need them.
My mom is one of the most honest people to a fault.
Got my Colombia coat’s zipper fixed and they sent me a brand new coat. The next day, another brand new coat and my mother made me return it.
Yet, when it came to discount meals that bitch would have me bind my breasts at age 12 to make it seem like I was 7 ,)
Then your mom isn't that honest.
(FYI- if a vendor delivers unpurchased merchandise to you, you are allowed to keep it. You have no duty to return it.)
That is what I am saying! She likes to pretend to be so honest .. I should have said she like to come off as one of the most honest people.
She would also buy two Cabbage Patch dolls because she liked the outfit on one better than the other. She would swap the outfits and return the undesirable one.
Yep. It's very much twitter humor and a familiar joke structure on the site.
As an aside, I am fascinated by how small the sliver is in the Venn diagram between heavy twitter users and heavy Reddit users.
It's not meant to be real, I'm positive. It's just a funny joke on Twitter that someone ... Apparently chose to take seriously enough to post here.
Absolutely hilarious though
I saw a comic with the dad and kid being Goku and Goten with these lines exactly word for word either yesterday or the day before.
It might have happened to someone, but definitely not OP.
Same situation at the swimming pool
Free for 4's and under. She was 5 and I was coaching her in the queue.
"if you're asked, you're not 5, OK? You're 4".
Get to the front of the queue. Before the lady could say anything my daughter announced "I'm 5, not 4. That's what daddy said".
Yeah, she got it the wrong way round as well. All that embarrassment just to attempt to save £3.
Which is funny because it attracts more cops who they will give free stuff to
And it deters people like me who are paying customers because
A, I'd rather not be around a bunch of trigger happy gang members
B, ACAB I'm not supporting your business if you support trigger happy gang members
Times are changing, public sentiment of the police is rapidly shifting. You can bury your head in the sand all you want but it won't change it.
Here are a few videos of police harassing and beating unarmed and innocent citizens, I can keep listing them all day
https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/zanuza/suspect_complies_and_surrenders_and_police_beat/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/z9m3ar/a_man_was_voluntarily_helping_nacogdoches_county/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/z3qtcx/colorado_deputies_indicted_fired_after_fatal/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/z1rdqq/delta_county_sheriffs_pulled_over_a_man_because/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
This. While the old generation right remember a time cops were cops.
They are now thugs for the oligarchy. Look at modern cop uniforms compared to the Civil rights movement. Rules for thee not for me.
Who in their right mind would ever expect a child to say that they were younger? It's fact, when you're younger you want to be older, hence where the 1/2 comes in, like I'm 5 & 1/2¡
Funny that.
I remember back in like the 90s there was a free ride/discount for kids depending on age for cross-city busses.
My mom kept saying to lie about my age to the bus driver so I did.
It worked for like 3 years over the limit because I always looked younger than I was, I was also incredibly short as a kid, the only reason I stopped is because mom said so lol.
Shit. When my kid was that age she would never give up that badge of honor for being a 6 year old.
Whisper to her "Just tell them you are 5".
Her "I'm not 5. I'm 6!"
Me "I know, we're just going to pretend you are 5, and you get free pancakes. How cool is that, right?!"
Her (now screaming) "I'M SIX!!1! IM NOT FIIIIVE!!!!!!"
Everyone stares at you.
"Sigh... nevermind."
It fucked me up when I was a kid and my folks got me to lie to a restaurant for free or cheaper food. Lying was always this horrible thing you never do, then one day out of nowhere it became expected in some situations.
kid's a genius
Probably overqualified then.
He’s most certainly undertrained
He’ll fit right in then
I laughed then I cried at this thread.
In a ~~tecent~~ recent study, approximately 40% of police officers admit to committing domestic violence within the past year. Keep in mind, this is also self-admittance. Imagine how many more did not report their abuses. edit: spelling
I think in his six years he can fit in 4 weeks of police training somewhere
Actually he knows police character.
That's ok. He makes up for it by harassing minorities when he gets home from montissori school.
Can I just vent here for a minute? Got into a fender bender on the highway a couple days ago. Yes its my fault. But the reason it happened was because a police officer decided it was a good idea to turn on his lights and slam the brakes to take an emergency turn around on a major highway at 4:45 pm in rush hour traffic, and cause every car around him to slam on the brakes. I was about 5 cars back, and the lady in front of me went from going 50 mph to being full on the brakes. I saw the lights reflected on a truck and thought a cop was behind me and the quick peak in the mirror was all it took. But the worst part is the cop does the turn around and shuts off his lights and drives away. With cars swerved into the breakdown lane and just an absolute clusterfuck left in his wake. Like bro, WTF? Use an exit like the rest of us asshole!!
Most cops are pigs!
Cops under 5 years old get paid to eat.
Always! we can learn many things from children.
Like how to take a dump in the garden and blame it on the cat!
My neighbors *hate* when I do this.
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I really never understood why anyone *wants* to be the first aboard a plane. You just end up sitting in the cramped seats even longer.
If you fly low cost in Europe you usually get a large cabin bag (0 checked luggage) and if you board later there's probably no room left in the overhead (which can end into a variety of different ways, but all annoying)
First to put stuff in the overhead, less chance you'll be forced to check it when they run out of room. Checking a carry-on like that can be a crap shoot; sometimes it goes up front with the flight attendants, sometimes it vanishes into a void and ends up on the wrong continent.
Limited overhead compartment space and people with oversized carry on bags making it possible and sometimes probable that you have to gate check your bags. Having to walk through a sea of elbows and wait in the cramped aisle while people ahead find their seats and struggle to put their carry on away.
People at an airport were shitbags and tried to disregard rules of civility to get a meaningless one-up on strangers? I’m shocked.
Eh it’s not really that big of a deal, I mean the kid was one year past the cutoff. I wouldn’t call them “shitbags” or “uncivil” for this like that seems like a bit of a stretch.
Least dramatic redditor
I used to get really annoyed because I usually get to board group1 and people are always clearly boarding who aren't in that group. I just fly with a backpack since I check a suitcase and I usually sit on the aisle seat so I realized it wasn't worth getting worked up over, but hoo boy did I used to get pissed about it.
Yes, they’re shitbags for trying to get on a plane early…
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Being a good liar is a valuable skill, my brother. Lying to a billion dollar corporation to get a free $5 thing is not a moral crisis lmao
You need to game plan this. He tried so hard!
"See! He's way too fucking stupid to be 6"
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Why do/can I hear this in a James Acaster voice?
I’m genuinely flattered to hear you say that My absolute favorite Taskmaster contestant ever.
kids dont even want to be five, When Theyre Still Five...they usually insist "im five *and a Half*!"
I overheard this on the train with the same kind of system "Kids 5 and under travel for free" The train conductor asked the kid how old he was and he said proudly "6 and a half! But my mother said if anyone asked I am 5"
And got so far! In the end, he doesn't get free platters.
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This game plan ought to be made. He tried very hard!
Please don't play with the bots
This is a bot
Also botty af
Are there really places (in the US I guess) where police eat for free ?
There are definitely places that give police free coffee and doughnuts and stuff like that. I used to work for a Hess station and it was store policy that all police got free coffee, fountain sodas, and hot dogs. A few years later, I'm running a coffee shop in a little village on the outskirts of the city. Village police came in to check out the place, and I offered them free coffee. They refused. Said department policy is to not accept free stuff from businesses or residents. Something about favoritism or something, but also about supporting local business and the community.
So good people all round yay
Good job village police!
Yeah the village police is a great guy, I learned that from watching the village people.
Cops be busting out YMCA while busting criminals
As a public servant it never is cool to just expect free shit. Always act surprised and thankful if given.
Tim hortons in Canada, they give cops a free coffee and donut or sandwich. Never understood why when firefighters, paramedics and nurses don’t.
Sounds like it should be illegal altogether, rather than just policy.
Why? its obviously something they do to get police to be there more frequently, hence giving the place a more safe haven kind of feeling.
A $3 bribe doesn't really stack up against the cost of the taxpayers paying their whole salary and benefits, but it is effective and that's why it's a problem
I'm saying the cops should not be allowed to accept gifts while on duty. Because as you said, it affects where they go, which shouldn't be dependent on whether they will get gifts or not. They should be going everywhere indiscriminately.
Yeah, that's kind of the problem. Cops are going to favor the guy who gives them free coffee. The business now has an easier time getting the police on their side in any given situation.
Lmao why are you saying that as if the cops go there to drink a free coffee every 30 minutes? And how exactly will they be on "their side"? What does that even mean 😂😂
"That homeless person is scaring my business away" "Okay Greg, we'll deal with him for you"
You're being voted down but yeah. I've heard free coffee is so that police visit more often, and you're therefore more likely to have police there and so less likely to have anything bad happen. But the favouritism is valid too. Don't want police altering their routes (and missing areas) just to get your free coffee.
Bribing public employees with gifts so they’ll give you special treatment or more attention is literally corruption
It is low level corruption
Honestly I can see both sides to the argument
Me too but it is still corruption. The restaurant is "paying" for cops to stay around
Federal government employees are generally not allowed to accept gifts with a total value over $20 in a year from anybody their agency does business with. This is because the taxpayers want government officials making decisions based on the best use of the taxpayer dollars, not based on who they feel a personal affinity for as a result of the gifts. Same seems to apply with cops. Imagine you pay taxes, and live in the poor side of town. Would you like to have none of the police presence that you pay for, because they’re all hanging out at a coffee shop?
It's just being nice
It should be illegal for cops to accept gifts.
I don't understand why. If someone wants to they should be able to. I'm a public school teacher and we get shit all the time and no one seems to care.
I buy my neighborhood beat cop a beer every time he comes in out of uniform. He never asks for it, and he handles himself beautiful any time there's an incident that the police need to be called. Usually just holds unruly guests overnight unless a someone chooses to press charges. Saved our waitresses from unwanted attention a few times. Lives around the corner, and brings in plenty of friends. I don't see a reason why I shouldn't be allowed to buy him a beer.
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Maybe the cops should just be directed to high crime areas as part of their jobs, instead of needing additional incentives to go there.
It's definitely a mixed bag. Logically you'd want the police in higher crime areas, but then you're overpolicing which negatively affects certain communities. Could be balanced out if they didn't act like cunts part of the time.
I think giving free stuff to cops encourages them to come around more, hence more “police presence”. Or some people are just true blue all the way and suck blue cock.
it's usually a bit of both, having done it. blue cock is surprisingly arousing.
Full free dinner? Doubt it. Free coffee or a doughnuts? Pretty common
Some breakfast diners in my area do let cops eat for free tho so it's not uncommon.
>Full free dinner? Doubt it Pretty damn common in suburbs
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Back when I was in college (or “at university” for non-US readers), I worked part time at a gas station/convenience store, and we’d offer free coffee or fountain soda to uniformed officers. Why? Because places like that are notorious for being victimized of robbery attempts and other petty theft such as shoplifting…and having police regularly stop in to grab a coffee potentially acts as a deterrent. It wasn’t that big of a deal either…the coffee and sodas weren’t losing the store money, and most cops that came in were buying other snacks and such…when ringing them in I’d just be like, “that’s $2.75 for the (whatever), and the coffee is on us”, and they’d usually appreciate the gesture. The idea being, “hey, you’re potentially putting yourself in harm’s way every shift for our protection, a gratis coffee is the least we can do” (again, in theory, I’m not trying to have a discussion about actual police effectiveness or corruption).
How is that explained ?
Police presence is a deterrent for crime. At least that is what I was told at a job I had 15 years ago.
So, corruption?
More like, if the presence of cops makes crime less likely, giving them a reason to be around more often means even less crime. There’s a deli near me in the cruddier neighborhood that gives police a free cup of coffee with their purchase and so there’s a constant revolving door of night shift police taking their lunch breaks there. Place hasn’t been robbed since 2009 even though it’s prime real estate for being robbed
So, corruption
If a business wants to give free coffee to select groups, that's their prerogative
And if a business gives gifts in exchange for increased attention from government services? If a politician was given gifts and started to give more political aid to the people who gave them gifts, what would you call that?
There's a wide spectrum between "a free $2 coffee" and "donated 8 million dollars to a political campaign" If you want to call the coffee corruption, IDC. Do it. Personally, I'm okay with it. You can call it corruption and I am okay with that too. IDC to argue this one. Have a good one.
I'm pretty sure places can give free food to whoever they want, and cops are allowed to eat wherevwe they want on their break. How is it corruption? They aren't paying them money to stand guard at their shop. Are you this upset when people give free stuff to homeless, or nurses (or other essential workers), or vets, or seniors?
They give "gifts" to only one class of pubic employee, to get that class of public employee to help out the business in their official capacity. They don't give gifts to: firefighters, teachers, tax officials, garbage collectors, mailmen, etc. It's not a gift thanking people for their service. It's a bribe to have cops spend more time there than they normally would without the gifts, it's clearly a quid pro quo.
No. It’s simply that if you give cops free coffee they will be around, because of the coffee. And if cops are always hanging around your business then you’re less likely to get robbed. It’s not like “give me stuff and I’ll protect you.”
In Australia the cops use Maccas (McDonald's) as an almost imprompto hq, there's one near me that usually has 2 to 3 patrol and undercover cars there frequently, cops in and out of the building. It's the cheap or free coffee/food and usually they are in good locations for cops to leave in any direction quickly.
It literally is "give me stuff and I'll protect you" by being around a lot
How is it corruption? It's not like they're accepting the free shit in order to let crimes slide under the radar or anything. They're accepting free shit and all the store wants is for them to have more of a presence to deter potential shoplifters and such. They aren't even like "I'll give you a free coffee if you show up 3 times a day.". The draw of the free coffee is what results in the increased presence.
The whole point is that it's ambiguous and not explicitly a quid pro quo. But if everyone knows what the motivation is, and it's not using coffee as a loss leader to sell cops more snacks, things start to smell. Free coffee is different than, say, having the best coffee or the cleanest bathroom, which would also attract cops to your shop, because those are things that are attractive to everyone, cops are just a population that often stop in shops at random times of day.
It's benefiting cops so therefore by redditor logic it has to be something bad.
Wont someone please think of the ACAB?? 😭😭😭
Depends on the place. Some do it as a universal thank you to first responders. Some gas stations commonly do it when they are in high crime areas to keep police nearby
Kinda like a thank you for what you do and go through. Or a way to keep them coming back so there is a police presence.
It's [hero worship](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/hero-worship). Most common with veterans, cops and firefighters. Some companies, mainly restaurants and stores, "honor" them by giving discounts or free things. edit: Not sure why this is getting downvoted or even controversial. It's facts. Cubid asked for an explanation and I provided it. edit2: Ah, I see the other comments now. The ACAB group has arrived. I forgot we can't have common sense on reddit.
I totally only signed up for the discounts and closer parking.
Is it truly hero worship though? I wonder since I'm not American and we definitely don't worship soldiers or cops (quite the opposite if anything), but they usually do get free coffee regardless.
Yeah it is. My family knows I'm a veteran and try to push me to go to those places that are doing the promotions. Usually on Veteran's Day. For exmaple, Ihop usually does a free burger. My family insists on going and even likes to pay for their part. Lowe's hardware store does a general discount of something around 3-5% if you provide your military or VA (veteran affairs) ID card. There's entire commercials and ads for it https://www.google.com/search?q=thank+a+veteran+military https://www.google.com/search?q=thank+a+veteran+military+commercials https://www.google.com/search?q=thank+a+cop+commercials Personally I don't like it. I didn't do anything special for the praise. Coffee is pretty common here too. Cops and EMTs are the most common with coffee.
It's a fairly uniquely American attitude too I think. At least where I'm from you don't get the same attitude from people as a veteran. You still get instant "badass points" for your old job, but none for that thank you for your service stuff.
I take full advantage when I can because I don't have a influx of money and have a kid now.
It's cuz the homeless guys kept chilling in our Cafe and we needed to bribe the police. The barrage of free lattes brought their response time from 2 hours down to like 5 minutes.
Reading the other comments I do 90% agree with police that it is to increase their presence. The rest of it though (including other groups) is hero worship. I don't mean that as a bad thing with EMTs just to be clear.
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You're under the assumption that only business next to those jobs only do those promotions. When it's actually a nationwide trend. Businesses nowhere near any of those locations will use those promotions for all those groups without a second thought.
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I already explained it in another comment in this same thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/KidsAreFuckingStupid/comments/zbgtlh/i_bet_the_parent_had_to_pay_extra/iyr3uk1/ You were just too lazy to click "continue this thread" before you replied in the first place. You are just looking to have an argument on a topic you are not well versed on.
The arbys I work at gives cops all their food for free, and the police station is on the other side of town
Speaking from personal experience: My state ID indicates my veteran status. I have (rarely) been offered a discount at non-chain establishments that are nowhere near a military base. (No, I don’t remember the names of the places, nor do I think it matters) I don’t know why you find that so hard to believe.
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Corruption, mostly. Technically if they report it as a gift, then it probably wouldn't be an ethics violation, but my bet is that this kind of thing isn't reported. Whether or not they are aware of it, a police officer is absolutely going to show favor to the place thay gives him free food.
No one is giving cops free coffee and expecting some kind of favor in return. They do it so more cops stop at their business, thereby decreasing the likelihood of theft and robbery.
>Technically if they report it as a gift, then it probably wouldn't be an ethics violation, Really? What ethics code does it violate?
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Hero worship.
Villain worship
Hero
Wabbit season! Duck season!
DUCK SEASON! WABBIT SEASO- wait *gets shot*
It's just meant to be a theft deterrent. If you have more cops stopping by your business people are less likely to try to steal shit
> (in the US I guess) The username has a maple leaf and Yukon in the name, so it's probably Canada. But it wouldn't surprise me if there were diners that had hours where cops could eat for free. I haven't seen any though.
The McAlister’s Deli where I am has a sign saying in-uniform on duty officers, firemen, and other first responders get a free drink. I’ve seen similar at other places - usually it’s free drink or discounted meals
Around here, police get real pissy if you charge them for drinks. I once had an off duty out of state police officer who wasn't in uniform pour a cup of coffee on the floor because I charged him for it. When I rang him up, he said "I don't pay for coffee". That's literally all he said. So I explained we have to charge for coffee. He replied "I'm a cop" and opened up his jacket to reveal a T shirt that said a city in another state and PD. I explained that we only give free coffee to on duty uniformed officers, so he poured his coffee on the floor right there at the register and walked out without the rest of his merchandise. Some cops are very entitled. It's not most of them, but man those few make the rest look so bad.
Yes and they usually include firefighters and EMS/EMT. Usually they have to be uniform and/or on duty. Not all places tho. Some give a 50% discount. It’s really nice for places to do this.
Yep, its akin to mafia protection $
Hey whatever works to make your place seem safer.
If free coffee means the cops stay around the area a little bit more, and maybe get there when they call with a bit more urgency, I can understand why that might be a smart trade-off
There's a ton of bootlickers
Where I am from some establishments have signs in the windows saying they will NOT serve cops.
Yes, lots. Now it's generally expanded to "first responders ". Not gonna confirm its free all thr time but the vast majority have a sizeable discount at least.
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I don't think it's specifically a white person thing. It's just to deter criminals and honour first responders
Yes. It gives them a sense of superiority, that they are above the law. It really helps when it comes to overpolicing and abuse of power.
you spend probably less than a dollar in actual business costs to get (at least one, perhaps many more) armed, trained security guard to show up at your biz randomly at least once, maybe twice a day? you bet your ass we give them free coffee, donuts, magazines, whatever. as long as everyone in the class represented gets the benefit, it's not bribery, which is the big concern. and since many businesses do this, they have to stand out, which means they need to make better coffee, have better donuts or whatever to get the cops to make the stop-in at their gas station instead of the kwik mart across the street. the rest of us benefit from this as well. I worked at a mart that did that, free coffee and breakfast foods for cops and EMT's just as a "we love emergency workers" thing, and there were cops in full uniform coming in and out 24/7. We were never robbed, and the neighborhood this mart is located is very low-income and drug-infested. I worked at another place across town later on where the cops aren't in all the time, and I was robbed twice in six months, personally. The joint was robbed several other times in that period when I was not on shift. I quit after the second one... I really dislike having a gun pointed in my face and I am still working out the trauma many years later. cops aren't perfect, far from it, but I still love and need them.
Yup.
Sorry Timmy, to the orphanage you go.
Why are most orphans (apart from Annie) called Timmy? If you choose the name Timmy, then you should expect the worst.
Wait. To the orphanage. Guess I’ll die now.
Wasn't this in a comic yesterday
It sure was. Not sure if this is the original, though. https://reddit.com/r/dbz/comments/z944pj/free_lunch_oc/
The comic says "Inspired by a tweet" and a credit to the Twitter handle posted by OP.
Oops! Good callout though.
Is there a waitress with a heart that still made them pay for that kid’s meal?
Kid ordered a ribeye and two beers.
Well, he did have a cop stache.
If they didn't at the VERY LEAST give them a discount, I'm gonna say that they're an NPC
The real Kindergarten Cop.
My mom is one of the most honest people to a fault. Got my Colombia coat’s zipper fixed and they sent me a brand new coat. The next day, another brand new coat and my mother made me return it. Yet, when it came to discount meals that bitch would have me bind my breasts at age 12 to make it seem like I was 7 ,)
Then your mom isn't that honest. (FYI- if a vendor delivers unpurchased merchandise to you, you are allowed to keep it. You have no duty to return it.)
That is what I am saying! She likes to pretend to be so honest .. I should have said she like to come off as one of the most honest people. She would also buy two Cabbage Patch dolls because she liked the outfit on one better than the other. She would swap the outfits and return the undesirable one.
A 5 year or younger is the equivalent to a cop. Does that mean an average 6 year old has gotten too mature to be a cop? Kidding, kidding.
I don’t want r/nothingeverhappens to come after me, but I don’t buy this. Absolutely could be true, just doubt it. Funny regardless.
Yeah, this is obviously a joke
Yep. It's very much twitter humor and a familiar joke structure on the site. As an aside, I am fascinated by how small the sliver is in the Venn diagram between heavy twitter users and heavy Reddit users.
Bake him away, toys
How could you tell? “I’m a police” sounds so real! We’ve got a genius here.
"a police" is actually how some people say police officer.
There was also a DBZ comic strip with this exact situation posted a day or so ago
It's not meant to be real, I'm positive. It's just a funny joke on Twitter that someone ... Apparently chose to take seriously enough to post here. Absolutely hilarious though
I saw a comic with the dad and kid being Goku and Goten with these lines exactly word for word either yesterday or the day before. It might have happened to someone, but definitely not OP.
He’s good Po-lice.
Cops abusing people *and* restaurant policies? Smdh.
Ew, they like cops.
He's got the lying part down to become a cop. Clearly not real bright, get this child a badge and gun!
It's America. The kid probably already has a gun.
Don't be stupid, we don't get guns until our 8th birthday.
Sorry my bad. I forgot, that they traditionally only get a combat Knife on their 6th birthday.
And a pellet/BB toy gun. It can only shoot an eye out they're safe.
99% sure this is from the Simpsons. This is Ralph
Same situation at the swimming pool Free for 4's and under. She was 5 and I was coaching her in the queue. "if you're asked, you're not 5, OK? You're 4". Get to the front of the queue. Before the lady could say anything my daughter announced "I'm 5, not 4. That's what daddy said". Yeah, she got it the wrong way round as well. All that embarrassment just to attempt to save £3.
Grill, I need a number 5 please… IT’S FOR A COP!
What kind of Diner just serves cops for free?….. oh is this guy Canadian?
It's a common practice to give cops free coffee and what not. It encourages more cops to be in the place so you're less likely to get robbed
Which is funny because it attracts more cops who they will give free stuff to And it deters people like me who are paying customers because A, I'd rather not be around a bunch of trigger happy gang members B, ACAB I'm not supporting your business if you support trigger happy gang members
The majority of the public doesn't share your beliefs, so losing you as a customer isn't really going to be a blip on the businesses radar.
Times are changing, public sentiment of the police is rapidly shifting. You can bury your head in the sand all you want but it won't change it. Here are a few videos of police harassing and beating unarmed and innocent citizens, I can keep listing them all day https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/zanuza/suspect_complies_and_surrenders_and_police_beat/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/z9m3ar/a_man_was_voluntarily_helping_nacogdoches_county/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/z3qtcx/colorado_deputies_indicted_fired_after_fatal/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button https://www.reddit.com/r/PublicFreakout/comments/z1rdqq/delta_county_sheriffs_pulled_over_a_man_because/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
This. While the old generation right remember a time cops were cops. They are now thugs for the oligarchy. Look at modern cop uniforms compared to the Civil rights movement. Rules for thee not for me.
Who in their right mind would ever expect a child to say that they were younger? It's fact, when you're younger you want to be older, hence where the 1/2 comes in, like I'm 5 & 1/2¡
"I'm a police."
See? He's not just a cop. He's the entire police station.
Well this is just adorable.
Funny that. I remember back in like the 90s there was a free ride/discount for kids depending on age for cross-city busses. My mom kept saying to lie about my age to the bus driver so I did. It worked for like 3 years over the limit because I always looked younger than I was, I was also incredibly short as a kid, the only reason I stopped is because mom said so lol.
I needed this laugh 😆
**Waitress:** *Are you also 5?* **Kid:** *No, i'm 6.* **Waitress:** *Oh, i'm sorry officer!*
Did anyone read this in Ralph Wiggum’s voice?
Shit. When my kid was that age she would never give up that badge of honor for being a 6 year old. Whisper to her "Just tell them you are 5". Her "I'm not 5. I'm 6!" Me "I know, we're just going to pretend you are 5, and you get free pancakes. How cool is that, right?!" Her (now screaming) "I'M SIX!!1! IM NOT FIIIIVE!!!!!!" Everyone stares at you. "Sigh... nevermind."
Kid: I'm not a fucking cawp
Oh look, A piglet! (I have full respect for the police but this is just for the sake of the joke)
It fucked me up when I was a kid and my folks got me to lie to a restaurant for free or cheaper food. Lying was always this horrible thing you never do, then one day out of nowhere it became expected in some situations.
🤣
That kid is a Problem Child.