Jake3501:It is not unusual for restauraunts in high crime areas to encourage cops to come in and drink free coffee, sometimes to even give dough nuts and on special occasions a slice of pie. The coffee is a small price to pay for otherwise having to shut down when the sun goes down, looks safer with one or two patrol cars out in the parking lot. Furr's Cafeteria used to do that in North Houston and managed to stay open in a war zone.
When I ran my C-store officers always got free coffee and pop. I liked it because I think it was the main reason you would find city, county and state police meeting in my parking lot at 3:00 in the morning. It always made my night shifters feel safer. However, I think the issue here is abuse. Demanding it and coming back that often might tick me off also. All the officers in my area were very polite and appreciative. I would always let the officers step behind the counter and get the pop themselves. After I left that store I was talking to one of the officers I knew. He was telling me he went in there one night and they told him he couldn't go behind the counter - new managers rules. He was assigned the liquor inspection reports that month and decided to do that store at that moment. He asked to inspect the liquor storage room (which he knew would be locked and the clerk did not have the key). He expained as a LEO he could go ANYWHERE in that facility because it sold liquor. He informed the clerk he would be back the next night to inspect that room. In the long run I believe the manger ended up coming in on a night shift for the inspection AND they he still managed to find a violation or two (you know tax seals that the glue let loose - open liquor - VIOLATION) You can get boneheads on both sides. The new manager was so bent on "rules" she forgot to work with LEO. I had to laugh, because the LEO in that town was great to work with. If I had clerks they thought were selling after hours or to minors, they would let me know first so I could set up the sting and fire them BEFORE they had to. They were very much about solving the problem not asserting their authority.
"The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing..." Adolf Hitler