Starbucks responds to Tempe police after officers were asked to leave a store for making customers feel unsafe on July 4: 'I want to sincerely apologize'
- Starbucks Executive Vice President Rossann Williams issued an apology that was shared with Business Insider to the Tempe Police Department after six police officers were asked to leave a store for making a customer feel unsafe.
- Williams wrote that the officers "should have been welcomed and treated with dignity and the utmost respect by our partners" in a letter Saturday to Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir and the department.
- Williams also flew to Tempe on Saturday to meet with Moir and employees at the Tempe store, which the department tweeted was "an opportunity to work together to strengthen our communal relationship."
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Starbucks Executive Vice President Rossann Williams issued an apology to the Tempe Police Department on Saturday for actions taken by an employee at a Tempe store that resulted in six officers leaving after being told customers "did not feel safe" with their presence.
"On behalf of Starbucks, I want to sincerely apologize to you all for the experience that six of your officers had in our store on July 4," Williams wrote in a letter addressed to Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir and the department that was shared with Business Insider.
"When those officers entered the store and a customer raised a concern over their presence, they should have been welcomed and treated with dignity and the utmost respect by our partners (employees). Instead, they were made to feel unwelcome and disrespected, which is completely unacceptable."
On Friday, the Tempe Officers Association tweeted that six officers, including some veterans, entered a Starbucks before their July 4 shift and purchased beverages. Then, a barista asked the officers to either remove themselves from a customer's line of sight or leave the store because the customer "did not feel safe" with the officers' presence, and the officers chose to leave.
The tweets included a #DumpStarbucks logo, and the hashtag trended on Twitter. Williams, who is also the President of U.S. Retail for Starbucks, spoke directly with Moir and flew to Tempe on Saturday to meet with Tempe employees and the police department directly, according to Starbucks spokesperson Reggie Borges.
"We have a long-standing relationship with the Tempe PD and we continue to work together in ways we can positively impact the community," Borges told Business Insider in an email.
Williams also wrote in her letter that Starbucks has hosted several "Coffee with a Cop" events in Tempe stores, "which bring residents and police together to discuss relevant issues and find common ground."
"What occurred in our store on July 4 is never the experience your officers or any customer should have, and at Starbucks, we are already taking the necessary steps to ensure this doesn't happen again in the future," Williams wrote.
The Tempe Police Department tweeted that the incident "has been an opportunity to work together to strengthen our communal relationship."
Tweet Embed://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1147702942318751744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Tempe Police Chief Moir has engaged in conversation with Starbucks executives which will continue tomorrow. This has been an opportunity to work together to strengthen our communal relationship. https://t.co/ujbfJU2XSk