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| Cafe shows Portland officer the door, won't sell him coffee again |
| 2010-06-21 |
| In mid-May, Portland police Officer James Crooker went to Southeast Portland on a patrol call. With a few minutes to spare, he decided to get a coffee. So, he popped into the Red & Black cafe on Southeast 12th Avenue near Oak Street, bought a coffee and was heading out when a customer approached him, saying she appreciates the hard job that police officers do every day in Portland.One of the co-owners of the cafe, John Langley, has another point of view. While the officer and customer were chatting, he walked up and asked Crooker to leave, saying he felt uncomfortable having a uniformed officer in the vegan cafe. Red and Black? Isn't that sorta -er- Racist? The incident, which was brief, speaks volumes about the tensions between Portland police and some members of the community who are more worried about police shootings than protection. Crooker said he was surprised to be shown the door but left immediately. He said this marked a first during his nine-year in law enforcement, two in Portland and seven in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. "The places that I've been kicked out of before have been places like the methadone clinic," he said. "I've never been kicked out of a regular cafe." But the 36-year-old officer, who was born and raised in Portland, said it's all part of working this city's streets in a uniform. "We have a unique relationship with the community," he said. "You're there to protect them but on the other hand they don't know what that involves. Being gracious is part of it." A former Marine who served in Iraq, Crooker didn't take the incident to heart. "It was not personal," he said. "He was being hostile to my uniform," he said. Langley, who did not raise his voice during the encounter, agreed. "It's not about the police," Langley said. "It's about what the police represent to many people who frequent the cafe. See next paragraph.... The cafe draws vegans -- of course -- along with homeless people and animal-rights and environmental Now I wonder why he didn't like the police near his establishment. Could he be a supporter for actual domestic terrorists? (no of course not - he's not a teabagger!) If I were the Portland PD I would start keeping an eye on this place. If I were the Portland PD I would start ignoring the place, particularly any 911 calls, but I don't have as much class as Officer Crooker ... But the cafe also draws customers like Cornelia Seigneur, who blogged about the incident on her website. Seigneur, a freelancer for The Oregonian who was enjoying lunch with her daughter on May 18 when Crooker came in, was the one who approached him. "There have been some unfortunate situations recently," Seigneur said. "But overall the police are out there day in and day out protecting us." She said she struck up a conversation with Crooker to show her support for police, who she said saved the life of a friend after he was shot by gang members. When Langley asked Crooker to leave, she was startled. "It was shocking," Seigneur said. "Everyone deserves to have a coffee, and he was served a coffee. It was humiliating." She said there were only about three other people in the cafe and that no else seemed to notice the officer. But the incident has fired a reaction, with dozens of comments pouring into Seigneur's website. Question is - will she return to the cafe? I wouldn't feel safe in a place where the police weren't welcome - unless I was well armed. I wonder how the owner feels about open-carry..... It's been so overwhelming that she took the blog post down but put it back up Thursday afternoon. The cafe, too, has received a deluge of calls, with about half supporting the cafe and the rest expressing anger. "We've received threats," Langley said. "People have threatened to attack us and break our windows." Still, he has no regrets. "I never expected a police officer to come into the space," he said. "If it happened again, I wouldn't serve him." And of course if someone does break your window you will be the first to yell and cry for Which they will do because they have class, and you are a sh*thead. (apologies to any and all piles if sh*t out there.) |
| Posted by:CrazyFool |
| #13 Isn't refusing to sell food to a paying customer in a public restaurant considered discrimination? Not necessarily, if the establishment has a clearly posted policy that they reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-06-21 23:13 |
| #12 IWW Wobblies and anarcho-syndicalists, according to the comments. Pain in the tail, but they seem to spend a lot of time aggravating "liberal" establishments: Starbucks, Wild Edibles. |
| Posted by: KBK 2010-06-21 22:22 |
| #11 Expanded to the Oregonian. |
| Posted by: KBK 2010-06-21 22:10 |
| #10 Isn't refusing to sell food to a paying customer in a public restaurant considered discrimination? For instance, if it wasn't a cop but a minority trying to buy coffee you could only imagine the shit-storm to follow. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2010-06-21 21:50 |
| #9 Get above the maddening crowd. Try the Portland City Grill. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-06-21 21:03 |
| #8 I'm embarrassed to say I live in Portland. Lovely town, but filled with grass eaters who have no idea how the world actually works. Typical "progressive liberals". Damn I hate them. Unkempt, greasy, organic T wearing, Birkenstocked, geyser pants, tofu munching beta males all posturing trying to impress each other. The few straight ones are attempting to attract the attention of the 35 year old "goth chick" with enough piercings, tats, cellulite, body hair and BO to deter the most desperate testosterone poisoned 22 year old male. Ugh. Toto, get me out of here! :-() |
| Posted by: Rahm 2010-06-21 17:51 |
| #7 Does 911 have a call block list? About time we started one the way this country is going down hill. |
| Posted by: Sheatch Protector of the Hatfields8107 2010-06-21 17:39 |
| #6 "We've received threats," Langley said. "People have threatened to attack us and break our windows." Boy that is troubling, maybe you should call...oh that right you don't like the cops. Suck to be you. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2010-06-21 17:36 |
| #5 You'd be surprised. Some joints like that refuse to pay the monthly VISA/MC merchant's fee so all they keep on hand is cash in the till for transactions. Or, similarly, they have a minimum required purchase amount for credit/debit usage, and again, customers end up paying cash because their muffin doesn't clear the minimum. In a place like Portland, several hundred dollars in a till might be worth a stick up to a total low life. |
| Posted by: Hugh Jass 2010-06-21 17:27 |
| #4 Filled with Vegans and Pseudo-Anarchists? I doubt the joint has enough in the till to be worth the trouble of robbing. |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-06-21 17:23 |
| #3 If I saw a robber running from that cafe, I'd walk after them slowly enough to sip my coffee and munch my donut so I don't spill it on my cop uniform. |
| Posted by: Hugh Jass 2010-06-21 17:19 |
| #2 Actually the owner of the cafe just hung up a big "Rob me now" sign on his business -- think the cops are going to expend much effort looking for the person(s) that rob that place? |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2010-06-21 17:12 |
| #1 Cops may get the name "pigs" but that cafe guy should have a nametag that says Ima Hog? Jerk. |
| Posted by: Hugh Jass 2010-06-21 17:00 |