Philadelphia police chief says officers did nothing wrong in Starbucks arrest of two black men

[Ferguson Philly Arsonists]

Philadelphia's police commissioner on Saturday defended officers
who arrested two black men at a Starbucks, prompting accusations
of racism on social media, concern from the mayor and an apology
from the company.

Videos posted online show officers handcuffing the men in the
downtown establishment on Thursday. A white man in the video is
heard saying he was meeting with the men and calls the arrest
"ridiculous."

Commissioner Richard Ross said Starbucks employees called 911 to
say the men were trespassing. He said officers were told that
the men had come in and asked to use the restroom but were
denied because they hadn't bought anything, as he said is
company policy. He said they then refused to leave.

Ross, who is black, said police asked the men to leave three
times but they refused. They were then arrested, but later
released after the company elected not to prosecute. He said the
officers "did absolutely nothing wrong" and were professional in
their conduct toward the two men but "got the opposite back." He
did not mention the man who said he was meeting with the other
two men.

"As an African American male, I am very aware of implicit bias;
we are committed to fair and unbiased policing," Ross said. But,
he added, "If a business calls and they say that 'someone is
here that I no longer wish to be in my business,' [officers] now
have a legal obligation to carry out their duties, and they did
just that."

Starbucks posted an apology on Twitter on Saturday, saying the
company was "disappointed this led to an arrest" and was
reviewing its policies.

"We take these matters seriously and clearly have more work to
do when it comes to how we handle incidents in our store," the
company said in a statement Saturday afternoon.

Later Saturday, Starbucks Chief Executive Kevin Johnson said
that the company had launched an investigation into what he
called "a disheartening situation."

"Regretfully, our practices and training led to a bad outcome —
the basis for the call to the Philadelphia Police Department was
wrong," Johnson said in a statement. "Our store manager never
intended for these men to be arrested and this should never have
escalated as it did."

He said that Starbucks planned to further train employees "to
better know when police assistance is warranted" and would hold
a company-wide meeting in the coming week to discuss next steps.
Johnson also said that he hoped to meet with the two men and
apologize personally.

Ross said he doesn't patronize Starbucks but recalled an
incident from a few years ago in which a uniformed sergeant was
denied access to a Starbucks bathroom, "so they are at least
consistent in their policy."

Mayor Jim Kenney said he asked the city Commission on Human
Relations to examine the company's policies and procedures,
"including the extent of, or need for, implicit bias training
for its employees."

"I am heartbroken to see Philadelphia in the headlines for an
incident that — at least based on what we know at this point —
appears to exemplify what racial discrimination looks like in
2018," Kenney said in a statement.

Kenney said a review promised by police of policies in similar
situations "is fully warranted given the unfortunate outcome of
this event, particularly at a time when our criminal justice
reform efforts are focused on avoiding needless incarcerations."

Attorney Lauren Wimmer told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the
men, whom she did not identify, are commercial real estate
professionals and were meeting with the another man to discuss
business. She identified herself as a friend of the man they
were meeting with.

A spokesman for the district attorney's office said the two
black men were released "because of lack of evidence" that a
crime had been committed, but declined further comment, citing a
police investigation.

UPDATES:

8:25 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from
Starbucks Chief Executive Kevin Johnson.

This article was originally published at 6:35 p.m.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-starbucks-arrest-20180414-
story.html