The head of the NYPD detectives union is calling for a boycott of Dunkin’ Donuts after two NYPD officers were refused service.
On Thursday, Detectives’ Endowment Association President Michael Palladino blasted an incident in which a clerk had refused service to the officers, saying, “I don’t serve cops.” Palladino said that the discrimination was “disgraceful and it should not go unattended.”
“I assume it is an isolated incident. Nevertheless, Dunkin’ Donuts corporate should issue an apology to the NYPD and until that happens, I have asked detectives and their families to refrain from patronizing the stores,” he said.
“Political leaders in this city have encouraged this type of behavior by constantly demonizing cops and pushing their decriminalization agenda,” he said. “It’s time for the same politicians to step up, take some responsibility and condemn what occurred.”
According to law enforcement officials, the two officers were wearing their badges on their belts and were in suit pants with shirts and ties when they approached the counter, only to be ignored, according to the New York Post. The clerk asked the man behind the two officers for his order, and the man gave it before saying, “These two guys were in front of me.”
“Yeah, I know, but I don’t serve cops,” the clerk replied.
However, a manager at the store said that it was not a case of discrimination but a case of the officers not being in the right place to order.
“These two men in shirts and ties — who I later found out were police — must have never come to this Dunkin’ Donuts before, because instead of waiting in the line where you order, they waited at the counter where you pick up your order,” the manager said, adding, “You can see on the security tape: they stand here for five minutes, while other customers were being served. One customer even ordered ice cream, and they must’ve not like that because they left the store.”