Philly police commissioner apologizes to men arrested at Starbucks
PHILADELPHIA — A somber and introspective Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross, under criticism for the arrests of two men at a Starbucks a week ago and his defense of the police action, apologized to the men Thursday and said he had made the situation worse.
“I’m here to discuss the unfortunate incident that has been in the news about this great city, an incident that I fully acknowledge that I played a significant role in making it worse,” Commissioner Ross told reporters during a news conference at police headquarters.
“For starters, I should have said the officers acted within the scope of the law and not that they didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “Words are very important.”
Commissioner Ross said he had been unaware that people sit inside
Starbucks for hours and added that he thought the officers also had not been aware of that practice.
The commissioner’s comments came hours after the two men broke their public silence by appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and as protests continued to swirl Thursday, including a 5 p.m. march from police headquarters ending in a rally by about 100 people at City Hall.
“While it is no excuse, my lack of awareness of the Starbucks business model played a role in my messaging,” Commissioner Ross said. “While this is apparently a well-known fact with Starbucks customers, not everyone is aware that people spend long hours in Starbucks and aren’t necessarily expected to make a purchase.”
“I apologize to them,” he said of Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, both 23, who were arrested for sitting in the store without buying anything.
He said a new department policy has been completed to guide officers responding to similar trespassing and disturbance calls, but he did not say when the policy would be implemented. One reason for the policy, he said, is so officers will not be manipulated by businesses. He said he was not sure if that happened in this instance.
Commissioner Ross said the number of officers who responded to the store — at least seven — may have alarmed some people, but that the number was not excessive and that the officers acted “in good faith … to prevent anyone from getting hurt.”
Mr. Nelson and Mr. Robinson were arrested after a Starbucks manager asked them to leave because they had not bought anything. They were released almost eight hours later without being charged.
Commissioner Ross, who noted he is a 54-year-old black man, said: “I should not at all be the person that is a party to making anything worse relative to race relations. Shame on me if in any way I have done that.”
He disagreed with accusations on social media that he doesn’t understand race issues. “I’ve been an African-American my entire life and, yes, I’ve been in situations where I have seen racism and prejudice in a variety of ways,” he said. “Based on what these officers responded to, I just don’t believe that was the case here.”
Videos of the arrests a week ago sparked national outrage, public apologies and a racial-bias training program at the coffee chain’s 8,000 U.S. cafés.
The two arrested men called for change on “Good Morning America,” which aired Thursday morning. The men declined to comment later Thursday through their lawyer, Stewart Cohen, and his spokesman, Dan Fee.
Still angered by Commissioner Ross’ initial response to the arrests, dozens of people Thursday protested outside police headquarters and marched to City Hall, chanting, “Police Department, you can’t hide, we can see your dirty side.”
Some marchers demanded to meet with Commissioner Ross and Mayor Jim Kenney. Others called the commissioner’s apology insincere.
“Their only sin is in the color of their skin,” Faye Anderson of North Philadelphia said of the two men who were arrested. She said Commissioner Ross “showed his true colors” when he defended the officers.
In interviews earlier Thursday, two black state legislators weighed in on the growing controversy.
Rep. Jordan Harris, a Democrat, said that although he respects Commissioner Ross, “apologies alone are not enough.”
“And quite honestly,” Mr. Harris said, “I think black people are tired of apologies without systemic change.”
Mr. Harris, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said he had asked Commissioner Ross to meet with the caucus to discuss policy changes and what he termed a “pervasive culture” of officers treating minorities differently.
“When the police are called for everybody else, they are the guardians of the community,” Mr. Harris said. “When police are called with African-Americans, we get the warrior.”
But state Sen. Anthony Williams — a Philadelphia Democrat who initially had said the police response “should be reviewed” — said he believes Commissioner Ross “responded appropriately” to the criticism that has engulfed the police department.
Mr. Williams said the arrests reminded him of slaves being shackled or civil rights activists being taken into custody over peaceful resistance, and he was “stunned” that most of the initial outrage, in his view, was directed toward Starbucks and not the police. Still, he said he did not think the responding officers should be fired. He said he hoped the moment could be seized to work to prevent such an incident from happening again.