00:00A California Sheriff's Department says that employees at a local Starbucks laughed at,
00:04ignored, and ultimately refused service to a pair of deputies who were hoping to order drinks.
00:10However, after the coffee giant's corporate office responded to the allegations,
00:15citizens are now more outraged than before. During night shift, a pair of female deputies
00:20from the Riverside County Sheriff's Department stopped at a Starbucks to grab a couple of coffees
00:24to help them on their patrol. After walking up to the counter, they soon realized that
00:29they weren't going to receive the drinks they desired. Two of our deputies were refused service
00:34at Starbucks. The anti-police culture repeatedly displayed by Starbucks employees must end,
00:40Sheriff Chad Bynko said. According to the department, the officers asked multiple times
00:45if they were going to be served only for employees to laugh at them and ignore them.
00:49The department maintains that it was a case of discrimination rather than simply poor service,
00:54Blue Lives Matter reports. The facts are undisputed in this case,
00:59Sheriff Bynko said. Two of our deputies went into a Starbucks in Riverside and they were ignored for
01:05a long period of time. They weren't exactly sure how long, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, they think maybe it
01:11may even have been longer than that. But the bottom line, they tried to get served. They asked if anyone
01:17was going to help them. They were laughed at and they were completely ignored, obviously ignored,
01:22to where other patrons knew they were being ignored. The deputies ultimately left and ordered their
01:28coffee from another establishment. Sheriff Bynko explained that it's simply another case in a
01:33series of anti-law enforcement bigotry from the company. After his allegations against Starbucks went
01:39viral, the corporate office hastily responded to the backlash, KTLA 5 reports. There is simply no
01:46excuse for how two Riverside deputies were ignored for nearly 5 minutes at our store on Thursday
01:51evening, Starbucks said in a statement. We are deeply sorry and reached out to apologize directly
01:57to them. We take full responsibility for any intentional or unintentional disrespect shown to
02:03law enforcement on whom we depend every day to keep our stores and communities safe. No customer, in or out
02:09of uniform, should ever have that experience at a Starbucks. The partner's employees, who work that
02:15evening will not be scheduled to work while we investigate, and take the appropriate steps.
02:20Although Starbucks apologized, the company denies that its employees discriminated against the officers,
02:26chalking up the incident to workers being busy at 11pm. However, the department isn't buying their
02:31excuse, insisting that Starbucks is merely trying to cover itself for once again participating in
02:37anti-police poetry. They're doing corporate damage control. They want to downplay what happened,
02:42Sheriff Byanko insisted. Starbucks alleges that the female deputies were mistakenly ignored in what
02:48they consider a case of unsatisfactory customer service. However, Sheriff Byanko is defending his
02:54employees, who he says were laughed at and deliberately snubbed. Despite Starbucks seemingly
03:00apologizing for the incident and acknowledging that no police officer should be treated in such a manner,
03:05the company's statement has only sparked more outrage. Rather than quelling the fire,
03:10the coffee giant is now receiving more of a backlash than before its spokesperson responded.
03:15Many have pointed out that anti-law enforcement encounters continue to happen at Starbucks with
03:20hardly any discipline. Others have pointed out that, when Starbucks has encountered alleged racism
03:26or discrimination at the hands of its employees in the past, they have launched company-wide
03:31sensitivity training. However, no such efforts have been made in the case of anti-police instances that
03:37have been proven true. Still others have vowed to boycott Starbucks, urging police departments to
03:42stop visiting the establishment in order to send a message to the corporate office. These same
03:47individuals have expressed confusion with why officers continue to bring their business to
03:52Starbucks after so many similar incidents. Starbucks promises to launch an investigation
03:57into the incident and not to schedule the involved workers for shifts until it is complete.
04:02However, with the spokesperson's claim that the situation appeared to be a simple case of poor
04:07customer service, it seems as though the scandal will merely fade away like all of the others.
04:12Sheriff Byenco is sticking by his deputies and won't back down his criticism of the company's
04:17handling of the alleged discrimination. However, there's no telling whether he and his colleagues
04:22will continue to do business with the establishment or take their money to a coffee shop that shows
04:27appreciation for police officers.
