Do you accept Gratuities?

[Recession]

Back in the early 80's my father owned a liquor store in a really bad part of town. His English was very minimal at the time. A lot of cops that patrolled that area would come into his store for cigarettes. He would always throw in an extra pack. When the cops told him that was unnecessary, he just told them in his broken English "Buy 1 get 1 free sale. Start now end now."

In his 5 years of ownership of that liquor store he never got robbed or harassed. I wonder if it had anything to do with the dozens of police officers showing up throughout the day to get in on the random 1 minute sales that my dad had.

[Falconis]

so what is the point of this thread?

[fullrearview]

Sometimes, but a tip is left for AT least the amount of the item...

[fullrearview]

There's a discount at the uniform store??? Dang, so our uniforms are even more than $140+?

No joke huh! I just convinced the sheriff to buy me a "T&E" top and bottom, since he wants to switch to the 5.11's

We are in snow suits right now, but I need new uni's for spring.

[Notorious]

Academy taught us no. Department says no. I don't believe in them.

Then there's the real world.

I don't go looking for them and I never ever ever ask for it. I have coworkers openly ask for it and tell me they want to go somewhere because of it. When they do that, I don't go with them. That's just embarrassing.

However, having worked for a while, you develop friendships with people aside from you seeing them as a cop. If he is a store owner and he knows the fountain soda is only $0.05 for him... and he feels like crap for charging someone he knows as a friend $1.29, then that's his personal feelings.

I'm not justifying anything, far from it, but interpersonal relations are different when it's one way compared to the random cop that stops in at In-N-Out every shift because they charge 50% and they don't know you and you don't know them.

The key to this whole discussion is that will this affect you and how you do your job? Does this affect your judgment? Will this make you do things you wouldn't normally do such as overlook criminal acts or divert public resources against normal policy?

[shoupdawg]

When I was in high school working at a gas station I would give the LEOs free coffee but charged them full price on everything else.

I would also give the area bum all the hot dogs that no one bought, rather then just throwing them away.

It wasn't a policy. My boss didn't even know. I figure the hot dogs were headed for the garbage anyways. Why not feed someone. As for the coffee I would just leave my register short the 99 cents or whatever. It wasn't very frequent. And I never got into trouble.

None of the LEOs ever refused or left the full amount anyways. They were happy to take the free coffee.

I had one CHP officer get mad when I asked him for ID to buy chewing tobacco. He looked under 30 and that was the rules.

Good job on all counts.

[AAShooter]

. . . When the cops told him that was unnecessary, he just told them in his broken English "Buy 1 get 1 free sale. Start now end now." . . .

Great story.

[Patrick Aherne]

Discounts for industry items are not gratuities. Just like painting contractors pay less at the paint store, yes cops get special deals on guns and lights. That's not a gratuity, it's a way for the involved uniform and equipment stores to get more business. Fleet pricing and other discounts are usually available to any credit union member, or Costco member, so there is no special treatment there, either.

Now, an officer that goes to a dealership in his city and whips out the tin and expects a break because of his employment is wrong.

Am I making any sense? This is a difficult area, one with shades of gray. I know departments that will fire an officer for taking a free cup of coffee or half-price burrito. Most departments forbid the practice, but ask the officers to apply it with common sense, i.e. don't get into a screaming match with the poor guy at Burger King who is just following his manager's orders.

[Lrchops]

I also have a side business and I cut people breaks all the time just because I like them and they are good customers. I believe that is good customer service! If I own a business where cops frequent, there is no doubt that I would offer them 1/2 off or discounts. It is a good business practice. I would cut cops a break because I beleive they are truly the most honest and enduring trustworthy people around, or they would not be cops (for the most part).

A cop who flaunts authority and expects gifts, is one who deserves nothing!

[Notorious]

Discounts for industry items are not gratuities. Just like painting contractors pay less at the paint store, yes cops get special deals on guns and lights. That's not a gratuity, it's a way for the involved uniform and equipment stores to get more business.

Fountain sodas and snacks are the "industry items" for 7-11 and other stop n robs. Food is the "industry item" for restaurants.

I don't really hear about restauranteurs or liquor store owners giving each other breaks. Cops are also not in the "industry" of guns, lights, and uniforms. We are consumers of that industry's products, but we are not in the industry.

Contractors pay less because they usually have a business account or they have resale licenses or other type of transactional permits that gets them the special industry pricing.

The grey area is alot greyer than anyone thinks.

[eltee]

When I went to POST supervisor school decades ago, they taught about "extension of hospitality" (freebies/discounts) given by businesses to LEO's. It's a multi faceted phenomenon. Joe's Burger Shop has a policy (per Joe) of giving cops 1/2 off. He is insistent. Do the cops diss' his expression of appreciation, does he expect anything in return (don't tag customers parked in front), etc.? The instructor told us that if Joe does not expect a quid pro quo for a discount, use it judiciously (don't overuse it) and TIP THE SERVER BASED ON THE RETAIL VALUE OF THE MEAL.

When I ended up teaching ethics to recruits, it was one of the most interactive portions of orientation. Remember the newbie question, "(probationary) Officer Smith, you are at 10-7 with your FTO and you noticed that neither of you received a bill for your meal and your training officer advised you it was time to go 10-8 and walked with you out the door, telling you that Joe's Burgers feeds cops for free, what would you do?" Sort of a Kobayashi Maru scenario.

Some police association / union periodicals actually have ads taken out by product/food/service providers stating, "25% off for all XXPD, XXSO, etc. employees, please show the salepserson/server your department identification."

My personal take on it is, offer to pay full price. If you think the provider would be offended, explain your department's policy. Leave the full amount + tip on the table and walk out with a smile and a "thank you." If you think the provider has no intent, present or future, to expect special treatment in return and your policy isn't specific, take the discount and pay the full tip. If you are concerned and none of the above solutions apply, patronize elsewhere. Ask the old timers if anyone has ever been dinged for getting a free cup of coffee at the local diner, etc. Has gratuity accepting ever resulted in an IA or supervisor's action on a member?

Back in the day, some people referred to our uniforms as "discount suits."

Personally, I think even little things like getting a free donut or coffee can come back later and bite you hard in the ***. Since everyone has video surveillance these days, a video clip of you taking a freebie may cost you dearly.

The way some food joints circumvent is to give you a bigger portion, free seconds / refills, etc.

Taking freebies / discounts, etc. is probably not a good practice, but sometimes difficult to avoid. Just ask yourself, "if I.A. had this on video, would it be a problem?" YMMV based on where you work.

Clear as mud?

[deadcoyote]

No.

[ArmitageTactical.com]

Back in the early 80's my father owned a liquor store in a really bad part of town. His English was very minimal at the time. A lot of cops that patrolled that area would come into his store for cigarettes. He would always throw in an extra pack. When the cops told him that was unnecessary, he just told them in his broken English "Buy 1 get 1 free sale. Start now end now."

In his 5 years of ownership of that liquor store he never got robbed or harassed. I wonder if it had anything to do with the dozens of police officers showing up throughout the day to get in on the random 1 minute sales that my dad had.

Great line...

[Notorious]

I've seen a few stores with that emergency sale policy.