Caffeine Addiction: San Francisco's finest vs Starbucks or "The Problem with Hoodies"
Reading "SF Appeal" today, I came across this great little story about a police officer who was jonesing real bad for his morning coffee. He needed it so bad, in fact, that he tried to abuse his authority to get his caffeine kick:
Maybe last week you saw this SF Weekly blog post about a SFPD cop said to have done some pretty shocking things, including hitting up an undercover hooker (he got 2 months suspension for that one), who recently retired "with full benefits."
Neither he nor his lawyer would tell the Weekly why he left the force, but Matier and Ross have an idea: they say that Lankford wanted to get into a West Portal Starbucks before it was open, and
wearing a hoodie and dressed in his street clothes - began knocking on the door.
When the female clerk ignored him, Lankford allegedly pulled out his badge and began rapping it against the glass.
No luck, so Lankford supposedly stormed off.
Soon after, sources say, the lieutenant returned, this time in uniform, and angrily accused the store of refusing to serve him earlier because he is black.
M&R say that the incident got back to his bosses, who suspended him again -- so he quit.
Of course, as I read this, all I can think is Starbucks? Seriously? I mean, it's fine, but not "jeopardize your job" fine.
Now, I'm not one to judge (oh, who am I kidding? Let the judging begin!), but I have a couple problems with this. First, I have no problem with the officer wanting his coffee, rapping his badge against the window, threatening small children to get a latte, or shooting puppies for a cooling sip of iced tea. But a HOODIE?! Can we please pay these officers some more money so they can leave the house dressed in something half-way decent? Also, I think accusing the staff of not serving him because he is black is a low blow. They didn't want to serve him because he was black AND wearing the aforementioned hoodie. Now, can you blame them? West Portal has its standards to maintain after all.
Cheers, Starbucks!
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