Discounts while Off Duty

[bubbagump]

While 10-8, some of you take discounts. Some of you prefer not to. Some of you don't want the discount, but the people behind the register INSIST you take the discount.

No hate here...I used to take discounts sometimes.

BUT JESUS H CHRIST...ASKING FOR A DISCOUNT WHILE OFF DUTY???

My wife works at a smoothie place. She gets hit up for discounts by off duty officers. She feels bad, so she gives them the discount. Some of the officers even get bent out of shape when she doesn't offer the discount to them.

What do you guys feel is the appropriate action here? Formal letter to the Watch Commander? Or just tell the officer she can't give a discount? Ask for ID?

EDIT: I would also like to add...THIS IS NOT A BASHING THREAD! SO NON-LEO's PLEASE KEEP IT CIVIL!

[Cruznegao]

Im not a cop but support the class. Even though I personally woupd never ask for a discount, In my opinion, an off duty officer still is an officer.
How would your wife feel is she got robbed in front of the guy and he just sat there cause it was his day off???

[bubbagump]

Im not a cop but support the class. Even though I personally woupd never ask for a discount, In my opinion, an off duty officer still is an officer.
How would your wife feel is she got robbed in front of the guy and he just sat there cause it was his day off???

Before I continue...I'm am not and was never a LEO...

The department I worked for had a policy against accepting discounts. I would NEVER ask for a discount. If it was offered, I would deny it. If they insisted, then I would accept. I broke that policy. A lot of people did.

If I was an officer, I would NEVER ask for or accept a discount off duty. It would also never affect the way I responded to things related to my job...on or off duty.

[non sequitur]

Ethics

As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all to liberty, equality, and justice.

I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all and will behave in a manner which does not bring discredit to me or my agency. I will maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn, or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the law and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of duty.

I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, political beliefs, aspirations, animosities, or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities.

I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of the police service. I will never engage in acts of bribery nor will I condone such acts by other police officers. I will cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their representatives in the pursuit of justice.

I know that I alone am responsible for my own standard of professional performance and will take every opportunity to enhance and improve my level of knowledge and competence.

I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself to my chosen profession ... law enforcement.

Many years ago, my first FTO put it like this, "Either you're gonna take every gratuity and LEO discount you can get or you're not. If you take the discounts/gratuities, you won't be the first or the last. But remember, that free cup of coffee will soon become a free steak dinner and so on. You get paid a good salary, just pay full price like everybody else!"

[FLIGHT762]

As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve the community; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all to liberty, equality, and justice.

I will keep my private life unsullied as an example to all and will behave in a manner which does not bring discredit to me or my agency. I will maintain courageous calm in the face of danger, scorn, or ridicule; develop self-restraint; and be constantly mindful of the welfare of others. Honest in thought and deed in both my personal and official life, I will be exemplary in obeying the law and the regulations of my department. Whatever I see or hear of a confidential nature or that is confided to me in my official capacity will be kept ever secret unless revelation is necessary in the performance of duty.

I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, political beliefs, aspirations, animosities, or friendships to influence my decisions. With no compromise for crime and relentless prosecution of criminals, I will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities.

I recognize the badge of my office as a symbol of public faith, and accept it as a public trust to be held so long as I am true to the ethics of the police service. I will never engage in acts of bribery nor will I condone such acts by other police officers. I will cooperate with all legally authorized agencies and their representatives in the pursuit of justice.

I know that I alone am responsible for my own standard of professional performance and will take every opportunity to enhance and improve my level of knowledge and competence.

I will constantly strive to achieve these objectives and ideals, dedicating myself to my chosen profession ... law enforcement.

Many years ago, my first FTO put it like this, "Either you're gonna take every gratuity and LEO discount you can get or you're not. If you take the discounts/gratuities, you won't be the first or the last. But remember, that free cup of coffee will soon become a free steak dinner and so on. You get paid a good salary, just pay full price like everybody else!"

You can't argue with this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Your Wife should speak to her boss, manager etc. and get the official company policy on giving discounts to people in uniform, out of uniform or whatever. It shouldn't be up to her.

She should then go with the company policy. No exceptions. If she gets a hard time from an Officer of Fire Fighter, she should then speak to someone about that.

Police and Fire Fighters have a way to screw up a good thing. I've seen it many times. It is a good policy for Officers not to accept a gratuity. It is very simple to comply.

By the time I retired, there was a new policy of not accepting any gratuity. There was a convenience store owned by a nice family who had one of their children in our Police Explorer program. The parents gave free coffee to our Officers. They liked the Officers coming by and they were just being nice. When our policy changed, anytime I stopped by for coffee, I would have to put money on the counter and literally run out the door because the owners were just nice. I explained our new policy to them, but they didn't care. I just kept putting my money on the counter and running out before they could chase me down to try to give me my money back. I adhered to the policy.

One of the craziest things I heard was the local Cinema would let off duty Police and Fire see movies free. You just showed them your I.D. and signed a guest book. An off duty Fire Fighter took a group of kids for his kid's birthday party. Ten or so kids. The Fire Fighter got into a yelling match with the manager because he wanted all of the kids get in for free.

Another true story (wouldn't be fair not to have a stupid Cop story). City has a chocolate company. The company would give away to Officers 5 Lb. blocks of chocolate. General manager was at a Flea Market one day. Saw one of the Officers selling chunks of chocolate chipped off of the blocks.

Taking gratuities is just a bad idea.

[yzErnie]

This topic could get fugly pretty fast.

I'll simply say that some eateries have company policies that give uniformed personnel discounts. When one of my Command Staff went to these places and told them they could not offer these discounts to his LE subordinates, they laughed in his face and told him it was their place of business and they could run it as they see fit. They then threw him out by his ear.

He came back to the station and put out a directive stating we could no longer go to those locations to eat. Long story short, the business owners somehow got a copy of that directive and filed suit claiming lost revenue and unfair business practices. They won the suit and to rub it in the face of that Command Staffer, they brought in a truck load of free food to every briefing for a week.

So, in short, The Code of Ethics is not law and there is case law that says a business owner can charge whoever they want, whatever price they want for the service they render. Case law superscedes the Code of Ethics. If I owned a business like an eatery or a convenience market, I'd be offering deep discounts to LE personnel, on or off-duty.

Having said that, I would never go into an establishment off duty and ask for or demand a discount offered to on-duty personnel.

[TRICKSTER]

Asking for a discount is just tacky, both on and off duty.

[Falconis]

In theory they should be big boys and girls. Just have your wife say that company policy says that she can't do it while they are off duty. If it gets ugly after that, have your wife take it to another level.

use to be house policy to keep officers straight who were in danger of ruining a place for the rest of us. not because of the discounts that were given on duty, but because in the middle of the night, it's hard to find a clean bathroom to use.

[Samuelx]

Asking for a discount is just tacky, both on and off duty.

I very much agree. That being said, however, I personally don't think it's wrong to ask a manufacturer or distributer of equipment/gear if they offer LE/military/govt. pricing...

And to BG (OP), with regards to guys getting "bent out of shape", IMnshO, aholes shouldn't get any love...

[Helius Lights]

Well our company always gives discounts on our off duty. If you don't believe me ask Ontario SWAT.

[Samuelx]

Well our company always gives discounts on our off duty. If you don't believe me ask Ontario SWAT.

Thanks for your support!

[Hopalong]

Asking for a discount is just tacky, both on and off duty.

Agreed. I am not a LEO.

I would look at a "discount" as a form of "tip".

I'm self employed, and when my clients pay me for my services

I sometimes get a tip. I say "thank you".

I say "thank you" even when I don't get a tip.

I don't expect a tip, would never ask for one, and I feel that it is ok to accept a tip.

I feel that it is fine to accept a "discount", if it is offered

However, it should not be "expected", and there should not be any "Quid Pro Quo"

Non Sequitur makes some excellent points though

Especially being very careful of the slippery slope regarding the disproportion of a discount.

[Tacobandit]

I have received a few discounts for my pd credit union card when I was off duty and there was a few times that my pd id was seen when I had my wallet out and they gave me a discount. One time an elderly women saw my off duty weapon and asked where I worked and then told me all about her deceased husband who was ex-pd and the next thing I knew she paid for my families whole meal.

[Dave Sauer]

If one goes to a place known for giving discounts and for some reason doesn't, keep your mouth shut and pay full price like everyone else. Asking for a discount on or off duty is bad form and shows a lack maturity and common sense and reflects poorly on us all. Graciously accepting a discount for what it is without any obligation or attachment to a future expectation of special treatment is not a gratuity.

Demanding a discount shows a serious lack of respect and would make one suspect in my mind that s/he should be a cop. If it were one of my officers, we would have a talk.

[cacop]

There are a few places that give discounts or freebies for cops on duty. I will offer to pay full price and if they decline to accept them I thank them. I also try to avoid those places just to avoid the ethical implications. No one has ever given us a hard time over the freebie/discount thing. There are a lot of them out there besides the meal/coffee thing. My insurance company gives me a discount for my job. Just like doctors, lawyers, teachers, airline pilots, etc.

My opinion is that it always should be offered and never asked for.