Not so starry experience at Starbucks!
On the morning of Thanksgiving a police officer from Oklahoma, US decided to do something nice for the emergency dispatchers working the holiday shift with him when he came up with the idea of taking them all for a coffee at the nearby Starbucks.
But things didn’t go well and as planned at the coffee shop. when the Kiefer Police Chief Johnny O’Mara was handed over a cup of venti hot chocolate labeled “PIG”.
Alarmed by the act O’ mara then contacted the Starbucks in Glenpool, Okla., to complain but was instead of receiving an apology was told that the store would happily replace the beverage with a correct label.
“What irks me is the absolute and total disrespect for a police officer who, instead of being home with family and enjoying a meal and a football game, is patrolling his little town,” O’Mara wrote in a Facebook post, where he shared a picture of a cup with the “PIG” label on it.
Starbucks representative Jory Mendes later called the incident “totally unacceptable” and “not representative of the deep appreciation we have of officers who work to keep our communities safe.”
“We are deeply sorry to the law enforcement officer who experienced this,” he told The Post early Friday afternoon, noting that Starbucks had launched an internal investigation and suspended the employee pending its outcome.
Hours later, the company announced in a statement that “the Starbucks partner who wrote this offensive word on a cup is no longer a partner after this violation of company policy.”
“This language is offensive to all law enforcement,” the statement said, adding that Starbucks had apologized directly to the officer and to O’Mara, the police chief.
In a joint statement, Starbucks and Kiefer police said they’re using the incident “as an opportunity to leverage our shared platforms to promote greater civility.”
The company will meet with Kiefer police to discuss ways to work together, including by jointly hosting a Coffee with a Cop event at Starbucks for local law enforcement to meet with baristas and community members to discuss “the critical role dispatchers and police offers play in keeping our communities safe,” the joint statement said.
