Police Commish Sorry For Starbucks Incident, New Policy Coming

PHILADELPHIA – Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross apologized numerous for how he handled the Center City Starbucks incident that has drawn ire locally and nationally. Ross, during a press conference Thursday, also said the police department will roll out a new policy after the April 12 incident.

Ross called the incident "unfortunate" and said he "played a role in making significantly worse."

How exactly did he make it worse? Ross said his lack of knowing Starbuck's policy and wording in a video statement exacerbated the issue.

In the video statement, Ross said the officers responding to the Starbucks at 18th and Spruce streets where two men refused to leave and had not purchased anything "did nothing wrong."

"I should have said the officer acted within the scope of the law," Ross said Thursday, "not that they didn't do anything wrong."

He went on to say his lack of knowledge regarding the coffee chain's policy played a role in his messaging, but said that was no excuse.

"Not everyone is aware that people spend long hours in Starbucks and aren't necessarily expected to make a purchase," he said. Ross said even when meeting with Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson it was hard for him to understand the company's policy and that he assumed those who spend time in the stores do make purchases.

"That is on me," he said.

Starbucks does not allow non-customers to use its restrooms, but has no requirement for guests to purchase items to spend time in the stores.

Ross apologized to the two men arrested, now identified as Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson both 23, who were waiting for a friend in the store to discuss a business deal on Thursday, April 12.

Johnson issued a statement regarding Nelson and Robinson's arrests and later met with the men privately in Philadelphia.

He said it's understandable now why the men were "appalled" when asked to leave given the common understanding of Starbucks' policy.

While on the topic of policy, Ross said the department has crafted a new defiant trespassing policy that aims to address these situations to prevent such an incident from happening again.

Police released audio of the 911 call made by the store manager, as well as police radio chatter from the April 12 incident.

Ross said the details of that policy will be made available to the public soon.

Protests and calls of racism erupted over the arrest and the manager calling the police. That manager has since left her job.

"The issue of race in this situation is not lost on me, the optics not lost on me," Ross said. "It is obvious the issue of race indicative or larger problem in our society. And I should not at all be a person that is a party to making anything worse relative to race relations. Shame on me if in anyway I've done that... I have to do better."

Ross said Thursday he was not forced, nor asked, to make these apologies.

Mayor Jim Kenney lauded Ross for his comments Thursday.

"Sometimes courage is as simple as a willingness to evaluate your own words and actions, and to account for them," Kenney said in a statement. "Today we saw such courage with the words of Police Commissioner Richard Ross. I applaud his ability to reflect on this very difficult week, and to articulate his changed perspective. It’s that courage and self-reflection that makes the Commissioner such an effective leader. The current realities of race relations and bias in 2018 warrant ongoing re-evaluations by each and every one of us."

A press release from Kenney's office says t he Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations is in the early stages of its investigation into the incident.

"The Commission has issued a formal request for a series of documents from Starbucks regarding its policies and practices," the statement reads. "The PCHR will analyze the information to see if there are intentional or unintentional discriminatory consequences to those policies and practices, and to determine what improvements can be made to ensure that such an incident does not happen again."

Starbucks plans to shutter thousands of its stores nationwide in May for a training on unconscious bias.

Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images