Starbucks Apologizes To Tempe Police After Evicting Six Officers, Trying To Quell Firestorm
Starbucks has issued a formal apology to an Arizona police force after six officers were kicked out of a Tempe coffee shop on Independence Day, an eviction that triggered a social media firestorm as #DumpStarbucks trended on Twitter. The Tempe Officers Association said the officers left after a barista told them a customer "did not feel safe" because of the police presence.
Rossann Williams, a Starbucks vice president, said Saturday that she wanted to "sincerely apologize" to the officers and the Tempe Police Department. "When those officers entered the store and a customer raised concern over their presence, they should have been welcomed and treated with dignity and the utmost respect by our partners (employees)," Williams said in a statement. "Instead, they were made to feel unwelcome and disrespected, which is completely unacceptable."
