New Raising Cane’s pays for police detail
Business funds the officers, and regular staffing isn’t affected.
People are lining up to get a taste of the fare at Beavercreek’s newest restaurant, and some are wondering why police are there directing traffic, and who is paying for that service.
Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, 4384 Indian Ripple Road, has seen long lines since opening the restaurant’s second area location Oct. 30.
Beavercreek officers are standing at crosswalks and blind spots in the parking lot directing traffic as vehicles idle and travel incrementally through the busy drivethru.
The cost to pay for the police presence is being covered by Raising Cane’s.
The department is under contract with the popular chain restaurant to provide the “special duty detail,” according to Capt. Chad Lindsey.
“Special duty is at the request of the business, who signs a contract agreeing to pay the city for
continued from B1 the overtime and benefits of the officers working,” Lindsey said. “Special duty details do not have an impact on shift manpower and do not impact responses to other calls.”
Beavercreek police notified the public of the activity in a Nov. 5 posting on the department’s Facebook page.
“No city tax dollars fund these special duty assignments,” the post reads. “The police department works various special duty details throughout the year, which includes school events, Black Friday shopping days, road projects where contractors request traffic control, and various other special duty details. All business/vendors are billed by the city for all overtime, benefits and vehicles used for Special Duty assignments.”
Raising Cane’s often works with local police departments for crowd control and to address safety concerns when a new restaurant is opened, said Michael Williams, Raising Cane’s marketing specialist.
“When we go into an area where there are only a couple of locations, that’s where we see the biggest rush,” Williams said.
Raising Cane’s first restaurant in the Dayton area opened in Centerville about a year-and-a-half ago.
Around 1:30 p.m. Monday, the lunch crowd was still motoring through the drive-thru line and nearly every table was occupied in the dine-in area.
An officer on the scene said they measured how long it took one vehicle to get through the line. He said it took approximately 17 minutes.
Others have reported waiting an hour or more for the chicken fingers.
Williams said recently a new restaurant opened in northeast Ohio, where the nearest other location is more than two hours away. He said people were willing to wait up to two hours to get their food.
“We know what to expect when we open and we try to plan accordingly,” he said. “From purely a safety concern, our customers come first. We want to make sure people are safe going through the drive-thru.”
Raising Cane’s is looking to open a third area location at the corner of Stroop Road and Far Hills Avenue in Kettering.
Several neighbors voiced their objections at a recent zoning meeting on the proposal, stating the new restaurant would lead to traffic problems, litter issues and unwanted congestion in the neighborhood. Contact this reporter at 937225-6985 or email Richard. Wilson@coxinc.com.