Chicago cop suspended for screaming at Starbucks, demanding free coffee, flashing her badge and gun
The headline says it all, doesn't it?
A Chicago Police officer has been suspended and ordered into counseling after she was found guilty of demanding free Starbucks coffee from five different stores on the North Side from 2001 to 2004, sometimes flashing her badge, displaying her gun and screaming at employees.Cop demands free coffee, but not at this Starbucks (via Starbucks Gossip)Officer Barbara Nevers of the Belmont police district was suspended for more than 15 months, according to records the Chicago Police Board released today.
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Well generally cops in Chicago get free food and drink pretty much where ever they go. Really.
The amazing part is that this officer got nailed for something that is common practice - well almost. Usually it's a nudge and a wink instead of screaming and waving a gun.
And I'm not saying this as a cop hater. One of my close buddies is a officer and someone that is pretty much one of the good guys - but he takes his free stuff when its offered and usually it is.
Wow. Someone needs to lay off the caffeine. It only took them 4 years to discipline her or were the records just released? Can't tell from the article.
4 years after the last violation?
Great Job!
Hey, at least they suspended her.
Typcl vrly mtnl fml...
As a chicago resident, I am absolutely shocked that the CPD did anything at all in this situation. Cops are regularly acquitted in this city for murder, assault, conspiracy...and on and on...amazing...
Well, sometimes you just really need coffee.
(kidding!)
I can't speak for anywhere else, but here in Texas, cops get all manner of freebies from convenience stores to doughnut shops. Store owners write it off as a necessity in warding off potential criminals (isn't that their job anyway?) I don't know about Starbucks. Seems like the mid to high-end coffee shops would be the first to balk at this customary practice.
We need a new branch of the government to protect us from the police. The police won't police themselves and the judiciary and politicians just turn a blind eye. Disgusting.
I have used the same L stop downtown (Red Line - Jackson) for the past 7 years. You would RARELY see a cop down there.
Then, they opened a mini-Dunkin Donuts down there. Now there is almost always at least on cop down there and a lot of times there are 2 cops right by the mini-Dunkin, 2 cops hanging out nearer to the station and 2 cops at the end of the connecting tunnel near Dearborn Street.
It's hilarious.
I have a slight "in" on this story. I have 2 friends who are cop at the belmont/western station and they talked about this case when it first got rolling.
Lots of cops wanted to see her fired. This kind of egregious behavior just makes their job harder.
Chicago cops have been at a "force-deficit" for years now and are often pulling way more hours and shifts than they should be under any reasonable metric. I see the stress they're under in my friend's faces regularly. They're good cops but they're exhausted and stressed and the culture of police work is one where admitting you're hurting and asking for help is often seen as weakness. Especially for female officers.
In no way, no how does that excuse this kind of behavior. The officer involved is clearly mentally unstable and should have gotten help, but if anything I'm surprised we don't see more outbursts like this.
The emotional outburst is probably a result of her expecting to get the coffee for free, because cops usually do, and when she didn't she didn't know how to deal with the awkward and humiliating situation.
Handling rejection is not easy for some people.
Just to add: Cops get free stuff because store owners like having cops coming around. The perception that cops frequent a place makes some store and business owners feel safer. Is it true? Well, I can say that the restaurant I worked at in college never charged cops (they tipped the servers though) and we had a lot fewer rowdy customers when the bars let out than other places on the street. But that's quite anecdotal at best.
Cops like donuts because they're easy to eat in the squad and donut shops are often open all night. Connecting cops and donuts is about as hackneyed a comedy routine as "Take my wife, Please!"
The things you have to do do get an iced espresso. Sheesh...
I am not a cop, so if I were to do the same thing, I would probably be put in prison for at least a year. A police officer does it, and they get a 15 month vacation?
Send her to Murky Coffee! Wheeeee!
So to recap:
Cops burtsing into a private citizens house without proper warrant and shooting their dogs?
No comment.
Cops shaking down a major corporate chain for free stuff?
Now they've crossed the line!
BB h♥t♥s c♥ps. ♥ d♥s♥mv♥w♥l♥d ♥t mys♥lf s♥ y!♥♥ w♥♥ldn't h♥v♥ t♥. Y♥♥r'♥ w♥lc♥m♥.
{shakes tiny phist at Phikus}
Can't we at least make a rule that behavior that would land a citizen in jail would at *least* get an cop fired?
And it's no, nay, Nevers
No, nay, Nevers, no more
Shall she claim those free coffees
Not Nevers, not more.
(Sung to the tune of The Wild Rover, in case that isn't obvious.)
I'm with those who think the real story here is why it went on so long and why we're just hearing about it now.
Friends who have worked late-shift fast-food in a less-than-great neighborhood say they had a definite policy of free coffee for the police because they wanted every cop on the beat to know exactly where they were located. Some of the stories make me very glad I never held that sort of job; only a teenager would think the risk was worth the minimum-wage pay.
I have a friend on the local force and he told me that cops are actually supposed to refuse any gifts from anyone while on duty. While it may be common or customary for police officers to get free food and drink at places, it's not something that's required. Graciously accepting a gift is very very different from making a demand for something that is *technically* against policy. (at least, against policy here)
Also, what's with the making comments without putting in vowels? I've seen this twice now. What's the point?
-JT
@#4
Four years is a long time for something to finally catch up. Makes me wonder if the catching up rate is a function of severity? For example:
Shouting, badge waving, gun showing = 4 years
Hit'N run, accidental shootings = 8 years
Torture, false imprisonment, murder = 12 years
If I'm not mistaken, these time frames are about right. But I wouldn't doubt that there's a ton of paperwork and investigating to do. Kinda like homework, it's better to turn it in late than never.
#10 posted by Improbus
We need a new branch of the government to protect us from the police.
Superheroes, obviously.
Now if you follow the link there are all sorts of other shenanigans going on.
"Sgt. Nicholas M. Ortega was fired after he was found guilty of entering a bar in uniform, giving a ride to an unauthorized person in his squad car and having sex with a woman in or near the sergeants¹ office"
"Officer Robert E. Taylor Sr. was fired after he was found guilty of perjury before a judge in 2004. He was accused of being married to two women at the same time."
"Officer Joseph Battaglia was suspended for more than 15 months after he was found guilty of telling Trotter¹s to Go restaurant employees in 2004 that he had confiscated ³weed² and asked if they wanted some."
It also seems like there is such a backlog that only now are the events of 2004 getting dealt with.
trr,
There's always a deeper level of hell.
I worked at Starbucks in Chicago (sometimes at the same stores that this cop might have been to, if she stayed in her area). It was a common practice to comp the coffee for the cops. The first store I worked at had two cops come in regularly, but they also left their card, and let us know that if we needed assistance, especially around closing time, that they would be by.
There was another store in Evanston, though, where cops who could have well been off duty (or undercover) would just sneakily pull out their badge and flash it after their total was given. These were also not "regulars."
As with any situation, some people will use any means to get a freebie once they find out they can.
Free stuff given to cops is called 'pop'. It's illegal in most civilized locations.
This totally reminds me of the Sopranos when Tony's guys go into a 'Starbucks' to shake down the manager. They go into 'safety' and how 'a brick could get thrown through the window' and the young mgr says "they've got millions of dollars, theyll just buy a new window."
Then they really lean on the mgr. and he confesses "look, every cent is on the computer, if I'm short, there'll just be somebody else here instead of me."
Tony's guys go out "It's all over for the little guy."
Sad sad sad.
I've decided that I want to be a cop because I don't want to be a cop. Then, I can engage in behavior that would otherwise get me arrested and at worst I'll merely loose the job that I didn't want in the first place.
Free stuff given to cops is called 'pop'. It's illegal in most civilized locations.
It's essentially bribery. Though some districts allow gifts up to $25 dollars to go unreported.
I'm old-fashioned, but when I waited tables I saw no problem with comping cops on their food. As long as it's freely given and not demanded or linked to a service I don't see the harm.
According to Peter Maas's "Serpico", Frank Serpico's disillusionment with the police started when he saw how his fellow officers treated free meals and drinks from business owners as something they were rightfully entitled to. Times haven't changed that much, apparently.
In the UK, where not all cops are armed, armed police are specifically forbidden to accept food and drink from members of the public. The reasoning is presumably that it would be possible to drug them and steal their weapons. Apparently that's not something that US police forces are concerned about.
I believe they don't publicize these things until they've made their way through the Internal Investigation, an appeal and maybe a court case.
That might account for the 4 year delay.
She was probably on non-paid leave during this whole time (although it is Chicago - if she "knew" somebody...)
A few thoughts.
First, bear in mind that cops (just like other shift workers) get to choose where they spend their lunch and breaks, for the most part. They DO still have to be law enforcers on their lunch hour, but generally speaking they're not under any obligation to go looking for evildoers along with their pizza. So until we breed an army of fusion-powered clone cops, there's nothing inherently evil about trying to lure police officers to your restaurant or coffee shop (or them taking you up on it).
Second, I wish the article had had more information about when supervisors first found out about these shenanigans. It does seem to have taken a long time to get her under control. But on the whole, bureaucracies that prevent civil servants from being summarily canned are a good thing. For every psycho off her meds with a caffeine headache, there are a dozen rural sheriff's deputies who aren't budging on the mayor's kid's DUI.
Third, @28: ain't no way those were undercover cops, who don't carry badges and have been known to do things like assault unwitting uniformed officers (resulting in a guaranteed beatdown) the better to establish themselves. That's why there are so many good movies about undercover cops--they can, and will, do insane and very illegal things to maintain their cover.
The linked story does not state whether the suspension was with or without pay. I'm curious and would not be at all surprised if she was suspended w/ pay. Anyone know?
The appeals process between the city, the board of review and the cops union incredibly slow. With the right people (or wrong people) at the wheel it can get even slower as officers go into therapy or drug treatment or simply retire/resign.
Due to lawsuits the whole process is sealed until final determinations are released and/or appeals run out.
It's a very broken system.
#23 - JT -
Try http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/27/boing-boings-moderat.html, second question down.
#18 They didn't shoot the dog... The deputies shot the dough nut, therefor the hole... Lot'a Coppers!
Tee-hee Haw-haw!
I thought they called it "mumping" in the UK.
I'm calling shenanigans on doughnut references.
So, if you want to lower crime rates in your area (well, crimes commited by civilians anyway), pn dnt stnd?
She certainly deserves to be suspended for the public good - Starbucks is rubbish, and she's showing a terrifying lack of judgement by actually asking for it. Was there no other coffee shop in the neighbourhood?
Suspension? She should have been fired.
I worked at a newly opened Subway "restaurant" as a teen. In the first week of business a cop came in and got a sandwich and what not. My boss tried to give him the meal for free and the officer said "No thanks. I'll pay," and then recounted about the time he was at the counter in McDonald's about to take his free lunch when he realized there was a busload's worth of school kids behind him watching. "I saw those kids staring and I just couldn't do it. It just didn't seem right." From that point on, he said, he always paid for his meals. I'm still impressed by that guy having a sudden moral revelation when he remembered he was a role model.
Even better, my boss took the story to mean we should NEVER give ANY cops free food, so we didn't. HA!
I'm old-fashioned, but when I waited tables I saw no problem with comping cops on their food. As long as it's freely given and not demanded or linked to a service I don't see the harm.
Do you have the same policy for the poor and homeless? hmmm... I'm detecting BS.
I work at a starbucks south of atlanta and we give a 15 percent discount to those in uniform. They dont yell and they tip good and they are regular customers.
How do police officers report the value of these gifts on their income tax returns?
I was once held at the Belmont station.
@48
as deductible expenses
DENHOW@48: Good point. I'm sure they don't. Even the honest ones.
ANT: I was only speaking from experience when I said the d-word. I did not mean to offend.
When I was 19 I worked the nite shift at a d-nut shop and my girlfriend worked at the convenience store around the corner. We were normally closed at nite (just baking), but we opened up for police (it didn't require a register to give them pastries and coffee.) I'm not saying they ate proportionally more than any other food, or more than any other sector of society. It's just that that was my only experience giving out free food to cops. They were always pretty nice and would tip us for the trouble.
My girlfriend got "raided" much more frequently, like once every 2 hours sometimes, for anything and everything (except alcohol. That would have been illegal.) They all assumed they could take whatever they wanted and did. To be fair, with all their free beverage consumption, I guess they needed the public restrooms (but I suppose SEMIOTIX#35 would say they were still on duty) and she was cuter than me.
NOEN@46: Later, when I worked at a real bakery I would pick up the day-olds as I delivered the new goods around town in the AM and I would give them to the homeless people I saw. They started to learn my route and wait on certain corners. It was a such a rarity for them. I lobbied unsuccessfully for this to become policy, but at least they still looked a blind eye to me when I would make donations on their behalf.
I know certain pizza places that used to dedicate trash bags to just food they would throw out, so that, though messy and usually cold, it was still relatively clean for the homeless to find. It seems like the least they could do. I guess they felt like they'd be sued or scammed if they openly gave away food to the homeless. I don't know if they still do this anymore, but I saw it with my own eyes: trash-bags full of nothing but stacked pizzas (not even cardboard.)
Why isn't this as customary as "pop" for cops?
#48: I think I like Takuan's answer better. =D
Do you have the same policy for the poor and homeless? hmmm... I'm detecting BS.
I'm sorry, I have no idea what you mean by this.
Do I think the poor and homeless should be given food? Uh, yes. Did we hand out food to the homeless at my restaurant? No, because we would quickly go out of business. What is suspect there?
As I, and several others observed, many businesses like giving free stuff to cops to encourage them to hand around and/or develop good relations with them. It's a very debatable moral point, I'll agree.
In San Francisco in the 80s, you might have made an accusation about doughnut eating, but by the 90s, every cop that I ever saw looked like they were on a healthy diet and spending two hours a day at the gym. They were also universally pleasant and helpful and always left me with the impression that they were looking out for my best interests. Unfortunately, that might not be the norm in the US.
/me sings Frontier Psychiatrist
They should sentence her to weekly shifts at Starbucks to pay for all the free coffee.
In a job I had way back (and in a very small town) I had no idea that I was supposed to give the police free coffee, so I didn't. The sheriff actually had to go out to his car for his wallet, AND he didn't tip.
That said, I never saw him there again.
At least it wasn't donuts. That would've been a sad stereotype. On the other hand, coffee ain't too far away — and I can see a parody ad being made out of this.
I was once held at the Belmont station.
I once threw up outside the Belmont station.
Whoa. Cops actually get free food in major cities?
I thought that was something that only happened in small towns (admittedly all my knowledge of this comes from old television shows where a the owner of the diner says something like "no sheriff, it's on the house").
I found another story about a cop demanding coffee from Starbucks in Daytona.
the main problem with the police as an institution is that it tends to attract those least suited.
I was once stopped by cycle cops in Melbourne Australia, for not wearing a cycle helmet. I explained thatthey didn't make them in my head size (size 8...that is really big BTW).
I was told to get one and cut out the foam linig, issued with an A$80 fine and generally sassed and cajoled by them.
Foolishly I did point out that there were junkies in the CBD holding peole up with syringes full of their blood and suggested that rather than hassling me about some thing beyond my control they looked into catching some real criminals.
She stepped back and unholstered her gun.
This to a thirty something bloke on an old bike wearing a trilby hat smoking a cig.
Not exactly super crim.
I couln't believe my eyes.
I've met a lot of pretty decent and straight forward coppers in many countries, but there is always that fat percentage of NUT JOBS.
At least in the UK they are unarmed.
In fact if you ask about armed response training in the UK police you effectively bar yourself from doing it.
The Cincinnattus idea.
"the North Side from 2001 to 2004, sometimes flashing her badge, displaying her gun and screaming at employees."
Man, I wish I had a job where I could brandish a gun and get *suspended*.
For the rest of us, brandishing a gun in an attempt to procure free food would almost certainly result in jail time.
@#48": There is no such thing as a gift tax paid by the recipient. It's a myth.
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=108139,00.html
Suspended? Why the hell was she not fired????
"Suspended? Why the hell was she not fired????"
Well, union contracts have downsides too.
"For the rest of us, brandishing a gun in an attempt to procure free food would almost certainly result in jail time."
She's a cop, it makes sense that she would carry a gun. It would make no sense for a citizen to walk into a coffee shop with a gun though. Big difference. She should be fired for being an idiot.
At one of the Blockbuster Videos I worked at we had a cop that would come in an hour or two before his shift two days a week. I'd change out the video game in our demo unit to whatever he wanted to play and he'd play on it for an hour or so. Usually he'd rent a couple of movies or games, too, which he paid for, although if we were running any kind of a promotion I'd use that on him to get him free/reduced price stuff.
If other uniformed cops stopped by, I gave them the same deal, unasked.
It broke company policy, but I figured it was a good idea to have a cop car outside for a while a few days a week. I guess it worked, because our store was the only store in the strip mall to not get robbed in the year I was there. The shoe store next door got robbed four or five times, the grocery store two or three, and the subway and the check cashing place got robbed about once a month. Twice the shoe store was robbed when a cop was at our store and they got to run out and catch the guys. That was exciting. Also once a cop was in there when two cars came screaming into the parking lot and one dude jumped out of one car and starts beating on the other car with a bat. That was also fun. And a few times officers were in there when we could tell someone was stealing something, so we asked them to check them out and sure enough, they were, and they were arrested. So for us it worked out alright.
GANDALF23@67: So, if we keep the cops pre-occupied with video games and freebies they might be at the right place at the right time to do their jobs? You find nothing wrong with this? With that much crime going on in that strip mall, why wasn't there a permanent cop posted to the parking lot? Did they not have security patrolling it?
In my experience, here in Texas, you always see a few cop cars parking together in the same deserted parking lot having a tailgate party or whatever at 3am, and I always think: Concentrating themselves all in one place to engage in "shop talk": What a great way to cover their patrol area efficiently...
I wish the general public would bribe me to simply do my job, for which I can't be fired, only suspended (probably with pay) for egregious acts while I shoot the breeze, avoiding doing any real work, and treating civilians as 2nd class citizens. No wonder they get cranky when they can't have a free $4 latte.
The ones I dealt with were not on duty yet: they were either going into work, or coming off their shift. Didn't ever have any pop in during their shift to rent or return videos. I can see that restaurants might be different, though.
I worked for a multi-national convenience store chain many years ago. It may have changed since but, the corporate training material encouraged staff to offer police officers free coffee and self-serve semi-frozen drinks. The openly stated reason was to encourage their presence and deter theft, loitering etc. It was my experience that most officers politely declined our offers of free stuff. We were also allowed to occasionally make the same offer to whomever we wished.
multi-national convenience store chain? Does it name have anything to do with airplanes crashing into buildings? :)
NO comments from law enforcement officers in this thread? Hmm.
I spoke with an older gentleman this morning about this flap, and he reminded me that folks used to buy coffee, etc for police as a form of 'thank you' for strapping on a gun and going out to protect people.
of course no cops will comment. The worst can't read, the corrupt don't care and the good are so outnumbered they are just doing their time.
Police do what they want, they cover their own asses, they literally kill people and keep their job "protecting" citizens. I too am amazed this even got press or charges for that matter, in my city cops regularly shoot honest citizens and get away with as little as a few months suspension. The police are now quickly becoming the enemy of anyone middle class or poor. Sure you may get decent treatment from an officer while downtown in a suit or at your sprawling estate, but put your ass in some regular mans clothes and drop you off in the hood and guess what, you are just a lowly as the rest of us and prone to police abuse. Thats the problem, the people in charge never actually have to deal with the bullshit laws they create to control everyone at all times. Instead they actually are exempt from many laws in general. For that matter if you are rich enough you can slice your wifes head clean off and get away scott free..... This world is disgusting, the corruption is absolute. Nothing can be done but Im not going to leave either.
Ill just watch it crumble and hope I can help pick up the pieces.
I have seen police do and say some very wrong things in my life, so I understand the sentiment in some of the posts here. I also think the blanket anti-cop statements are over the top. I think it's healthy to distrust authority figures, but the truth is I rely on cops every work day. They are the ones who break up fights and disarm the unruly where I work (public school).
I used to teach in a school for troubled kids in a class that was only ONE hour long-the kids in that program were so anti-social they could be expected to last an hour a day in school. An officer was assigned, and was needed, in my room.
Funny. Between my two posts on this topic my daughter picked up some "latent lift" forms lying in the street in front of our house.