Deciding to cross the thin-blueberry line, metro area cops and Dunkin Donuts join forces this week to honor the men and women in blue.
Dunkin’ Donuts locations in Aurora and the metro area are offering cops free coffee this week. teaming up with the Denver Police Department and the Denver Police Law Enforcement Museum during National Police Week, May 11-17, 2014. Police officers who show their badges or are in uniform will receive one free medium hot or iced coffee. Participating locations have also renamed certain products to honor the community heroes: blueberry coffee, blue raspberry Coolattas, and the blueberry donut, all intended to honor Denver’s “Men in Blue.”
“Police love their coffee,” said Meredith Calkins, franchise owner of the Dunkin’ Donuts at 366 Broadway. “Our location has a 24-hour drive-thru window, so we get a lot of business at all hours of the day and night from officers on various shifts.”
Some may smirk about donut shops bowing to police, but cops realized there’s a certain cringe factor, too.
“When the idea came up in our discussion, we thought, ‘should we do this?’” said Michael Hesse, Vice President of the Denver Police Law Enforcement Museum. “And the response from officers was, ‘Hey, we love this.’ So we decided to embrace the stereotype. Everyone loves donuts, so why not have some fun with it?”
The connection between donuts and cops is legendary, according to Denver Police Officer Dean Christopherson. Officers would walk their assigned beats – usually about four square blocks – in 12-hour shifts. Due to low wages, the officers would take breaks in nearby bakeries and saloons. Soon enough, the sight of policemen at bakery counters or with donuts in their hands became a meme.
— Nick Petrak, Staff writer