Starbucks is apologizing to officers from the Tempe Police Department in Arizona after six of its officers walked into a Starbucks to enjoy some coffee on July Fourth only to be approached by a barista who told the officers that a customer "did not feel safe" because of their presence.
The Tempe Police Association said that "The barista asked the officers to move out of the customer's line of sight or to leave," The officers ultimately left the store "disappointed."
"This treatment of public safety workers could not be more disheartening. While the barista was polite, making such a request at all was offensive," the association said. "Unfortunately, such treatment has become all too common in 2019."
The officers association took a shot at Starbucks prior to the apology and posted an altered Starbucks graphic on Twitter and Facebook with a hand pouring out coffee reading "Dump Starbucks." The graphic also led to the hashtag #DumpStarbucks on social media. The graphic was deleted from the association's Facebook page but is still on Twitter.
Starbucks released a statement that read: "When those officers entered the store and a customer raised a concern over their presence, they should have been welcomed and treated with dignity and the utmost respect by our partners (employees). Instead, they were made to feel unwelcome and disrespected, which is completely unacceptable."