Posted on 06/03/2010 7:04:35 PM PDT by MovementConservative
In mid-May, Portland police Officer James Crooker went to Southeast Portland on a patrol call. With a few minutes to spare, he decided to get a coffee.
So, he popped into the Red & Black cafe on Southeast 12th Avenue near Oak Street, bought a coffee and was heading out when a customer approached him, saying she appreciates the hard job that police officers do every day in Portland.
One of the co-owners of the cafe, John Langley, has another point of view. While the officer and customer were chatting, he walked up and asked Crooker to leave, saying he felt uncomfortable having a uniformed officer in the vegan cafe.
The incident, which was brief, speaks volumes about the tensions between Portland police and some members of the community who are more worried about police shootings than protection.
Crooker said he was surprised to be shown the door but left immediately. He said this marked a first during his nine-year in law enforcement, two in Portland and seven in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.
"The places that I've been kicked out of before have been places like the methadone clinic," he said. "I've never been kicked out of a regular cafe."
But the 36-year-old officer, who was born and raised in Portland, said it's all part of working this city's streets in a uniform.
"We have a unique relationship with the community," he said. "You're there to protect them but on the other hand they don't know what that involves. Being gracious is part of it."
A former Marine who served in Iraq, Crooker didn't take the incident to heart.
"It was not personal," he said. "He was being hostile to my uniform," he said.
Langley, who did not raise his voice during the encounter, agreed.
"It's not about the police," Langley said. "It's about what the police represent to many people who frequent the cafe.
The cafe draws vegans -- of course -- along with homeless people and animal-rights and environmental activists who Langley said have been targets of police abuse and harassment.
But the cafe also draws customers like Cornelia Seigneur, who blogged about the incident on her website.
Seigneur, who is a freelancer for The Oregonian, was enjoying lunch with her daughter on May 18 when Crooker came in, was the one who approached him.
"There have been some unfortunate situations recently," Seigneur said. "But overall the police are out there day in and day out protecting us."
She said she struck up a conversation with Crooker to show her support for police, who she said saved the life of a friend after he was shot by gang members.
When Langley asked Crooker to leave, she was startled.
"It was shocking," Seigneur said. "Everyone deserves to have a coffee, and he was served a coffee. It was humiliating."
She said there were only about three other people in the cafe and that no else seemed to notice the officer.
But the incident has fired a reaction, with dozens of comments pouring into Seigneur's website.
It's been so overwhelming that she took the blog post down but put it back up Thursday afternoon.
The cafe, too, has received a deluge of calls, with about half supporting the cafe and the rest expressing anger.
"We've received threats," Langley said. "People have threatened to attack us and break our windows."
Still, he has no regrets.
"I never expected an police officer to come into the space," he said. "If it happened again, I wouldn't serve him."
-- Lynne Terry
But beware, criminals, his vegan friends will come to his defense when he calls them to his rescue and boy will you be sorry.
The cop is pure class. The cafe owner is pure crass.
Isn’t that vegan shop owner thus violating the civil rights of the policeman. He is refusing to serve him because of his color (blue uniform).
Hey Dougie: You misspelled “crass”. Added too many letters.
may the owner of the cafe soon be visited by thugs and thieves or at least if I was a thug and thief this would be my next hit and I would be sure to be armed and point the gun at the guys head until he cried and begged for mercy. “My parting words after listening to him beg for a good five to fifteen minutes? “Who’s your Mama now hippie? Nice to know you hate cops and won’t allow them in your cafe.”
“”If it happened again, I wouldn’t serve him.””
The police shouldn’t respond if they’re robbed. They should ignore all but medical 911 calls. If some crackhead robs the place, let ‘em throw vegetables at him.
great point. what ever happened to color blind? Guess it is just a few colors and the rest bleed from hippy weed.
I wonder if Langley realizes that he just advertised the fact that his business is an easy target? Probably not.
Wonder who the Red & Black cafe calls when they get held up?
Nice wholesome looking officer. The city should be proud.
You're right...I added an extra "Cr".
yes. I would specifically target them if I was a nefarious type. Which of course I am not. Something high drama to make the news paper. Preferably with a Nixon or Obama mask or both just to have some fun. Maybe throw in a Paul McCartney and Reagan masks. Hell add Jimma C too!
Right On!!
The incident, which was brief, speaks volumes about the tensions between Portland police and some members of the community who are more worried about police shootings than protection.
That's ridiculous ... what that business owner did ...
I worked in a downtown Portland business for a while and we welcomed the Portland Police there. I got to know quite a few of them and was friends with a few, too. They were very helpful and worked well with all the businesses.
The Portland Police have a high presence in downtown Portland, in order to keep a lid on the riff-raff that one gets in any city. And they do a very good job of it, too.
Downtown Portland is a "walking town" and you'll find a lot of people walking around in the day, into the evenings and on the weekends. It's not like a lot of other big cities I've seen in the U.S. where the core downtown areas are places you don't want to be when the business day is over, if at all, any time of the day.
The downtown section of Portland is busy and vibrant and a lot of activities going on and there's a whole lot of foot traffic.
I'm in Tulsa now and although that downtown is nice and clean and "neat" (not dirty or trashed) -- it is pretty vacant and not very much going on at all.
Anyway, the relative safety for people in downtown Portland is thanks to the Portland Police and the good job that they do there.
I have to go to Portland on business in a couple months. At least I know one place NOT to visit.
nope. no clue. Great example of how many of these libbies are mental cases and have no solid reasoning ability as they are completely unhinged.
yes. The cops keep those people very safe downtown as there are some serious nefarious types.
Hee hee....
Was wondering how often homeless people eat out, then realized that was kind of a joke...they eat out every day!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.