The Life Of A First Responder

LEOs Denied Service at Restaurants

Yes, you read that title right. Whether you choose to believe it or not, it happened. Law enforcement officers were denied service from restaurants. It's ridiculous. People, this is now 2016! We are better than this!

                                                                 ********************

An Irondale cop believes he was denied service at Krystal because he is a police officer after he waited for more than 20 minutes to get his food which never came.

The officer pulled up to the restaurant's drive-thru window, in uniform and in a marked patrol car, and placed an order. He sat there for between 7-10 minutes and never heard any acknowledgement.

Finally, he parked his car and walked inside where two women were standing at the counter. There were no other customers at the counter at the time, the officer told his chief. Both of the workers looked at the officer and then walked toward the back of the restaurant. "He said he could see them back there and they could see him."

After about five minutes, one of the employees walked up to the counter and yelled to the other worker that she had to go to the bathroom. She still didn't acknowledge the officer. He waited several more minutes and finally left without any food. The officer went and got a meal someplace else and later emailed Krystal.

"After talking with him (the officer), he feels like he was denied service and that's certainly what it sounds like,'' Atkinson said. "In this day and age when police officers are being killed, this is a restaurant in our city. If they have to call for an emergency, we're the ones responding."

The officer's wife posted this on Facebook: "It's a shame that police officers that protect and serve their communities are denied service. After waiting in the drive-thru in his patrol car, they never acknowledged my husband's order. He went inside in his uniform and every worker walked away from the counter to the back of the store."

The chief said what happened to the officer won't stop them from doing their job. "We're professional and we'll answer regardless of how we're treated,'' he said. "I want to know what happened and get an explanation, but as far as we're concerned, we'll move on and continue to do our job."

Krystal said: "Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. We already have begun looking into this and will take appropriate action immediately. Be assured what was described is NOT consistent with Krystal's values and training. We respect and appreciate all the uniformed men and women who protect and serve our communities as well as for our country. We want to invite this individual as well as the entire Irondale Police department into our restaurant for a meal to demonstrate our appreciation for what they do. We value their contributions and the relationship we have with them and with police departments in all of our communities. If this officer in any way felt slighted, we want him to know that we apologize and that was in no way, shape or form our intent."

                                                                 ********************

Officer Jackie Minks was dining at the Hardee's restaurant in Milaca, Minnesota, on Oct. 13 when the incident occurred, Grand Forks Herald reported. She wrote about her encounter with one of the cooks on Facebook, claiming the employee refused to make food for her "because she doesn't like cops."

"When I talked to the manager about it she dismissed it as 'silly' and said she wasn't going to do anything with the employee," Minks wrote. "I asked for the phone number of her general manager and she said she didn't have it. I asked for the phone number for the headquarters of Hardee's, she told me to 'look it up on Hardee's.com.' "