UK Police Refuse To Pay In Restaurant - Walk Out

Hi guys, this is personal experience but I hope to add some news coverage as I have informed the press who have expressed an interest.

Yesterday lunchtime - I took lunch with a couple of colleagues at the TGI Friday's restaurant close to my office. In the UK it's not unusual to see cops eatingin full uniform on breaks etc, and having known a lot of cops, I know that they are often given freebies at places like Pizza Hut etc - but what happened here is amazing!

We sat down about two tables away from a couple of cops. Cops make me nervous even though I don't have any record of criminal activity - I'm always just that little bit suspicious, maybe as I felt a little victimised being pulled over in my car a lot during my teenage years.

Anyway, I thought it a little unusual as police are often in places like pizzahut, but never seen them having a meal that takes a lot of time - like at TGI (I assume they don't get long to take a break).

Both were eating around the same time as us and seemed to order a lot - starters, mains and oddly one was drinking a beer - in full uniform! (Can someone clarify is this contravenes procedure - or even the law?)

One of the cops looked like he was pretty young, maybe in training - the older guy - with the beer - was probably in his late thirties, early forties.

Anyway me and my buddy ate out meal - pretty standard TGI crap - steak, chips, burgers - and everthing was pretty unremarkable apart from the beer drinking cop! Then as we were about to order a desert, the cops got up and headed for the exit. Nothing strange in that so didn't really register.

Then, our waitress who was also theres, acted as if she suddenly rememberdd something and shouted after them - 'Excuse me, excuse me'.

They hadn't paid. Anyway they didn't turn and kept walking so the girl shouted and signalled the guy greeting customers to stop them on the way out to get their attention.

They seemed to react quite hostilely to him stepping in front of them at the door. The older cop was raising his voice and I - and the whole restaurant, about 100 people at least - could hear him clearly.

He looked at the young guy on the door in a really condescending way and clearly said 'Police don't need to pay son' and forcibly moved him aside with his arm. The poor guy looked terrified.

There didn't appear to be any manager over about 25 years old so no one seemed to have the authority to do anything. Everyone just looked stunned and a lot of the tables were discussing it with each other.

The guys were 100% for real or it was a very elaborate hoax as they got into a police traffic car and drove away - I know for a fact that several people got their number plate and the restaurant had their lapel numbers.

Not sure where this will go but it better make the papers or something is going on!

Possible explanations: Police have a standing deal with TGI for free food? But presumably they would have to sign something? Give up their numbers? And even so I'm 90% sure police - especially traffic cops - can't drink in uniform.

Some odd joke/prank to discredit the police? Would have to be very elaborate as both had radios, full uniform, belts with all the cuffs, gas etc - and the car. (the radios were real BTW as they were chattering before the older cop turned his off/down as they came in).

Sounds like a couple of jerk cops to me.

I don't think there is any conspiracy or anything to it. Hopefully this will be reported and the cops disciplined, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Originally posted by Dutty_Rag
Hi guys, this is personal experience but I hope to add some news coverage as I have informed the press who have expressed an interest.

Good for you for blowing the whistle on these jerks. I believe in the police, because it would be an awfully uncivilised world without them, but it's clowns like this, frivolously throwing their authority around, that give them all a black eye. Go git'em!

well I think that's the thing to watch and that is unique about this case - it happened in front of 100 witnesses all who were outraged by what they saw. I have made a report to the press and the police (who didn't comment but said they have to send me a form to fill in - hardly great seeing as this guy could be drunk and driving around with no one with the authority to pull him over and breath test him)!

Lets see if this makes the press - if not - I guess it proves what kind of state we are now living in. Cops can do what they like!

You may be on to something - it seems they have a discount card scheme which is not unusual - alot of companies do, interstinlgly there are a few that are confused to what this actually is though:

www.policespecials.com...

Originally posted by Dutty_Rag
Hi guys, this is personal experience but I hope to add some news coverage as I have informed the press who have expressed an interest.

Yesterday lunchtime - I took lunch with a couple of colleagues at the TGI Friday's restaurant close to my office. In the UK it's not unusual to see cops eatingin full uniform on breaks etc, and having known a lot of cops, I know that they are often given freebies at places like Pizza Hut etc - but what happened here is amazing!

We sat down about two tables away from a couple of cops. Cops make me nervous even though I don't have any record of criminal activity - I'm always just that little bit suspicious, maybe as I felt a little victimised being pulled over in my car a lot during my teenage years.

Anyway, I thought it a little unusual as police are often in places like pizzahut, but never seen them having a meal that takes a lot of time - like at TGI (I assume they don't get long to take a break).

Both were eating around the same time as us and seemed to order a lot - starters, mains and oddly one was drinking a beer - in full uniform! (Can someone clarify is this contravenes procedure - or even the law?)

One of the cops looked like he was pretty young, maybe in training - the older guy - with the beer - was probably in his late thirties, early forties.

Anyway me and my buddy ate out meal - pretty standard TGI crap - steak, chips, burgers - and everthing was pretty unremarkable apart from the beer drinking cop! Then as we were about to order a desert, the cops got up and headed for the exit. Nothing strange in that so didn't really register.

Then, our waitress who was also theres, acted as if she suddenly rememberdd something and shouted after them - 'Excuse me, excuse me'.

They hadn't paid. Anyway they didn't turn and kept walking so the girl shouted and signalled the guy greeting customers to stop them on the way out to get their attention.

They seemed to react quite hostilely to him stepping in front of them at the door. The older cop was raising his voice and I - and the whole restaurant, about 100 people at least - could hear him clearly.

He looked at the young guy on the door in a really condescending way and clearly said 'Police don't need to pay son' and forcibly moved him aside with his arm. The poor guy looked terrified.

There didn't appear to be any manager over about 25 years old so no one seemed to have the authority to do anything. Everyone just looked stunned and a lot of the tables were discussing it with each other.

The guys were 100% for real or it was a very elaborate hoax as they got into a police traffic car and drove away - I know for a fact that several people got their number plate and the restaurant had their lapel numbers.

Not sure where this will go but it better make the papers or something is going on!

Possible explanations: Police have a standing deal with TGI for free food? But presumably they would have to sign something? Give up their numbers? And even so I'm 90% sure police - especially traffic cops - can't drink in uniform.

Some odd joke/prank to discredit the police? Would have to be very elaborate as both had radios, full uniform, belts with all the cuffs, gas etc - and the car. (the radios were real BTW as they were chattering before the older cop turned his off/down as they came in).

If you have their badge numbers and license plate I would email the story to every single news outfit on the internet even the sun and national enquirer lol

Trust me they would get so much press they wouldn't be wearing badges anymore.

CNN, FOX, CBS, NBC, heck even PBS or whatever the UK equivalents are guarantee a couple will pick up the news and run with it heck even send it to every newspaper in your area.

If I saw that I would be well I can't say that here.

Yeah good work on the discount card thing. I know when I was a kid my best friends dad was a sergeant in the local force and when I'd go for food with his family, he would use his police ID and get like a huge discount 50% or something. But that's different to him being in full uniform, I'm guessing on duty.

We need a cop in here - from the UK I guess who knows what the definition of on duty is .. and the rules.

I refuse to believe this was just a misunderstanding. Either way the guy was rude and physically moved the guy who worked there - that can't be legal.

The reason for posting this and being so angry is I feel this is happening more these days. The police always get the benefit of the doubt when really it should boil down to hard evidence. They should be accountable for their actions.

This on the back of the recent scandal in the UK of police raiding parliamentary offices with what has transpired was not a valid warrant. A long way from a £30 meal in a restaurant and more than a week on, we are given a blanket of confusion and conflicting stories by the authorities which results in us shrugging and concluding we don't really understand what happened - so why waste energy on it. When in fact, something incredibly serious has happened and action needs to be taken with regards procedures, oversight and those in command to make sure our liberties are secure.

UK police are not allowed to drink while in uniform, on duty or otherwise. Full stop.

They are also not entitled to accept gifts from the public that are not explicitly defined in an official capacity (discount cards, etc.) - this means they can't accept 'gifts' in exchange for treating people differently.

If this is brought to the attention of their seniors, they'll get into trouble for this.

Also, it might be a good idea to talk to the IPCC - they have a section on their website where you can make a complaint.

Complaint is with the IPCC, lets see if anything happens. Since posting the OP I have spoken to a lot of friends, one recently was pulled over by the police when he was driving late at night, committing no violation of any law.

They proceeded to do a full inspection of his vehicle without supplying any reason for doing this.

He contacted the police station the next day to complain as the whole thing took around 30 mins and the police were rude and refused a reason.

They said they didn't need a reason (can someone clarify this - this was in the UK too). Anyway, they said they would speak to the officers and try and get some clarification for piece of mind for my friend - (nice police for once!).

Anyway, clearly they spoke to the officer as the two nights later, the same guy was driving back from work around the same time, same route, and a police car was parked up in a junction watching passing traffic. On seeing him pass the car turned on the blue lights and followed, over taking three cars at speed to get behind him and pulled him over.

It was the same officer who asked 'why did you try and make trouble for me', and told him he if he drove this way when he was on duty again he would pull him over everypime and check his car for as long as he liked. He then did the full inspection of the car again - for around 30 mins, with his partner.

Obviously my friend called the same station and got through to the duty sergeant who questioned his allegation saying the said officer was not even working at all on the given night! Cover up or not I don't know - but he encouraged him to make a complaint if he didn't believe him so must have been fairly confident. He then cautioned him against making false allegations and hung up! This is the same guy who had been helpful before!

He didn't take the matter further but not feels he has to drive a separate route home from his job to 'avoid confrontation' - adding 10 mins to his journey - if this isn't oppressive what is. It's OK to say he should complain etc - but the procedures aren't transparent and to be honest no one has any confidence in them. Realistically, what would the outcome be that would make him better off - especially if the officer denys it and has support from his superiors as he clearly does.

The reality is, he has been bullied into changing his completely legal behaviour by police who seemingly targeted him purely out of boredom(?)

This can't be allowed to happen.

I cant stand the police in UK,everyone always says its a few bad apples etc ...i can only remember a few policeman that were decent humans in my life,the rest are usually vile,arrogant pompus men who are on a silly power trip.I dont show any respect to these people,badge or not.So this doesnt surprise me,hopefully it gets on the news.

My Dad was a cop and every time we ate out when he was in uniform the eatery tried to give him the food for free. Dad would always say: " No, I will be glad to pay"...and only if they insisted would he accept the food. The businesses like UNIFORMED cops in the business as it stops armed robberies, at least during that period, and they are glad to do it.

However, for a cop to ASSUME that the food is on the arm is wrong. A cop should offer to pay and only accept free fod if the business insists.Thats fair. Cops always whine about making little money( even though they know that going in), and assume that they should get freebies to make up for a low salary. These cops are not professional and sould be reported. Anytime a cop steps out of line, for any reason, we the people should stomp on them with all legally available means.

A few cops are OK..the vast majority are scum...and we see the results in stories like this one...greedy cops trying to get away with theft using their badges..sick.Fire 'em all!!

From personal experience with the police in the UK I have seen them go from a respected community driven force to a bunch of politicised thugs.
Most of the officers I knew in my town all left a long time ago, sick of the way things were going - no common sense any more, lack of understanding from idiotic senior officers who'd not risen through the ranks but were fast-tracked grads etc. In fact, things got so bad that they even started accepting people they had previously rejected to fill the ranks.

I have had a few run-ins over the last few years with local police officers and their senior officers and now would not trust any of them. They want respect and seem to think the uniform alone should earn them that respect and that we should all bow to them and definitely not question their authority.
I'm not saying they are all bad, I'm sure there are a lot of good officers but they always seem to close ranks to protect the bad ones, like it's some bloody mafia movie where they are all "family", right or wrong

I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying they are all scum - one thing I have noted is that the quality of cops I see is certainly lower.

When I am in the US I am always impressed by the cops - they are usually mature, well rounded men and women in my experience who command a lot of respect. No doubt there are bad apples but they seem a professional force.

In the UK, being a cop seems to have become 'just a job' - I think once upon a time it was something people were passionate about and it was a lifestyle. I don't think there are honestly man cops now who would act if they witnessed a crime and were off duty - once this was part and parcel of the job.

As a kid I remember cops seemed to be older than they are now - in general - a lot did other jobs before they became cops - perhaps this should be a requirement.

Now I've seen a lot off very young cops - between 18 and 20 - can people of that age (in general) really be mature and experienced enough in life to responsibly wield the power they are given?

It also seemed that when I left school, the people who joined the police - I know maybe 7 or 8 people from my year - are not the guys you would expect to be cops and all but one did it because it was 'a job' - paid well enough for the area I grew up in where there weren't many opportunities, and really didn't have that many opinions on anything, never mind strong opinions on doing the right thing and justice in general.

Out of that 7 or 8 - I'd say half were known in school as regular cannabis smokers - drug use is known to be endemic amongst police now - binge drinkers at weekends at least, and 1 was ousted from the force after drink driving and crashing his car into an elderly woman.

Now only a snapshot - but it begs the question how were any allowed to become police officers at all.

I don't know if you know also, but now in the UK we have 'PCSO's' who are kind of 'security guards' allied with the police who have no real powers at all - used by the government to increase visible policing. These are often kids who didn't do too well in school , and they even advertise jobs in the local job centres - only generally frequented by people who are in casual/unskilled employment or have spent a long time on benefits - again, a generalisation I accept, but not the kind of hard grafting character you would want in a police offer right?

I'm not saying every cop needs a college degree, I don't think that has anything to do with it - but surely there is a very obvious difference between someone who is 'right' for the police and someone who isn't - why is no-one making these decisions?

reply to post by Dutty_Rag


He should complain. By not doing so he's contributing to this problem - he's actively making it worse for other people.

This is classic abuse of power! They think they can get away with what ever they want. At the end of the day they are no more entitled to a free meal than the rest of us!

Hi Dave,

To defend my friend, he did complain - twice - and was borderline threatened by the guys superior. I don't want to comment too much as I wasn't there.

I agree people should complain, but this guy has kids and a job he needs to drive to everyday - if the police make things difficult, complaining might stop it - but it doesn't happen overnight and in the real world, the police can do a lot to effect his life while he's working and like most people he can't afford to be a martyr - and more so - he shouldn't have to be!!!

reply to post by Dutty_Rag


He should complain to the IPCC - that's what they're there for - to ensure an impartial investigation into claims of dodgy police. The police will NOT tell the IPCC to sod off, or threaten them. The IPCC is not interfered with in any way by the police.

reply to post by Dutty_Rag


yup,the police are a law unto themselves now,no ones helding them accountable and thier acitons are always covered up.

ive seen similiar things myself,they think they are above the law,i wonder why,the police must be reigned in.

I also want to bring up the recent case in London of Jean Charles De Menenez - I think maybe I'll do this as a separate post.

If the IPCC can't be influenced and deliver fair judgements - then why have they reccomended a coroner who has subsequently banned a jury from delivering a verdict of unlawful killing in the inquest into his death.

For all you who don't know. This is the guy shot by police on a London subway - they suspected he was a terrorist, then lied, covered up and fabricated evidence - subsequently refuted by eye witnesses and video evidence - and STILL - kept their jobs and can't even face a negative verdict in the civil case the family have brought against him.

They shot him 12 times in the head with hollow point ammo at point blank range - TWELVE TIMES with the gun practically touching his head! I think this is excessive even in the case of a suspected terrorist. If you have ever seen what HP ammo does at that range you'll know that once, maybe twice would be MORE than enough to ensure death with a head-shot like that.

The truth is, the IPCC do their best, but it's still an investigation that relies on evidence etc and the police is a closed shop where everyone's got your back. They rarely rat on their own. It stinks. There is no accountability when armed police can shoot a man to death on a subway train with absolutely no evidence he is a terrorist. This case was a catalogue of errors that makes me shiver every-time I so much as see armed police. Id rather gorillas were running around with M16s ! I'd feel safer right now.

If your dealing with a police officer who you feel is being disrespectful and victimising you all you need to do is say may i have your collar number. make a note of it and then inform the officer you will be reporting them for their behaviour and attitude. Remember they're public servants and I promise you something will be done about them.

As for these two cops in the restaurant, its disgusting. As long as you got their collars though they will definately be facing action. It would have been ideal if you could of called the police station straight away after they left the restaurant so that the one drinking alcohol could of been breathalyzed to prove he'd been drinking. Any response from your complaint yet?