Police chief: Officers did nothing wrong in Starbucks arrest

This is in response to the following post on CNN:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/14/us/philadelphia-police-starbucks-arrests/index.html

It was interesting to read the reactions, because it’s a topic I never gave much consideration too before because the moment I enter any privately owned establishment, I don’t get comfortable until I purchase something, but the reason for this is because I grew up working for a large number of privately owned establishments and the one thing I learned early on, especially in restaurants is that as an employee I was not trying to clean up, after a person or people that came into the restaurant I was working at, that were not paying customers. Personally I didn’t care what the race of person was. That was just my thought process.

Now where this issue at Starbucks gets interesting is that some people, mainly people who classify themselves as white have said that they’ve gone into Starbucks plenty of times without buying anything, sat there and were not bothered. So why then should these two black men who didn’t buy anything have to be subject to this type of treatment? That’s a good question and it’s one of the problems that franchises face. Franchises are supposed to be known for consistency. One of the things that used to annoy me about working at Mcdonalds was young people TEENAGERS!.

The race of the person wasn’t an issue for me working at McDonalds, because McDonalds doesn’t exactly attract upper class people anyway, but Starbucks from my perspective is an upper class coffeeshop. So for me I just hated when teenagers came because I knew I’d have to clean up a huge mess, calling the cops, never entered my mind but I knew once kids came I better get the broom and the mop ready.

With that said Starbucks is going to have to practice uniformity going forward, when any person goes in there and doesn’t pay they’re going to have to kick them out or call the police. Otherwise this instance will be unexcusable. I’ve had opportunities to invest into franchises and it’s things like this, why I always turned the offer down. There was a Christian guy that refused to bake a cake for Gay people and I can bet that you or most people can’t remember the name of that store? Well people will remember this incident and Starbucks may have to do something to rectify the situation.

My opinion is if I’m going to meet someone at a restaurant, I’m buying the cheapest thing on the menu, small basic coffee, give me that and I’ll sip on that bad boy until the person I’m supposed to meet gets there. Did race play a factor? I’m sure it did, but for someone like me I’m not rolling the dice. I’m not taking the chance, I’m in a privately owned establishment, I’m buying something, the cheapest thing, I remember going to Subway and buying a small Apple juice while I waited for someone, The Apple juice was over priced, but it was cold outside, I was waiting on someone and at the time I had to use the washroom. Apple juice it is! Not only that give me my receipt, and I have a habit of paying with my debit or credit card to record business transactions, so if I were arrested under those circumstances my lawyers is getting information on everything. That’s how I was taught and that’s how I approach things.

Not sure how this will end up but I understand things from both perspectives and for me, I feel good knowing that I didn’t get involved in owning a franchise.