Mmmm donuts

October 30, 2008 5:46 PM

Why is it that any portrayal of police officers in movies, or television always include a love for donuts?

Just a question that came up tonight that took my interest. Any suggestions why this association with cops and donuts exists?

posted by lifeonholidae to society & culture (23 comments total)

It used to be that coffee & donut shops were one of the few places that would be open late at night. Cops on night-shift didn't really have anywhere else to go.
posted by randomstriker at 5:55 PM on October 30, 2008

The version I always heard was this: in the 40s and 50s, donut and coffee shops were among the few business open and making money 24 hours. The danger of their being robbed in the wee hours was therefore quite high. The owners of these places started offering free donuts to the police in the hopes of having more cops around at night to deter theft. Since cops were among the few professionals who would need massive doses of caffeine and sugar in the middle of the night, the arrangement proved mutually beneficial and a beloved stereotype was born.
posted by arcanecrowbar at 5:56 PM on October 30, 2008 [8 favorites has favorites]

The stereotype lives ie seems to be true. Here in Canada, you'll find the cop cars outside Starbucks and Tim Hortons (donuts). I guess if you have to take off suddenly on a call, donuts and coffee are portable, as well, unlike other messier foods.
posted by Listener at 6:13 PM on October 30, 2008

“The relationship of cops and donut shops goes back to the days before Kevlar body armor and auto loaders, and even radio dispatched patrol cars.

Back when cops were huge Irishmen who carried ‘Billy clubs’ and .38 police special revolvers and of course the ‘Gamewell Key’.

A Gamewell Key unlocked the call boxes which were direct lines to the station.

The police ‘call box’ you see in the old movies were usually manufactured by the Gamewell Corporation of Salem Massachusetts.

All that was just to set the scene,

In those days there were no ‘convenience stores’ and the only place open at 4:00 AM was the local donut shop where the beat cop was always welcome for conversation and a cup of coffee and of course and old fashioned plain ‘cake’ donut, still warm from the deep fryer.

Coffee is the major reason you still see cops in donut shops late night…”

posted by ericb at 6:14 PM on October 30, 2008

your question is bound to make a bazillion screenwriters weep. cops and donuts are a cliché like california and palm trees. yes, the story about those places being some of the few 24-hour places in days gone by are probably true and yes, there are cops who do love donuts but generally you only see that used when (1) a hack screenwriter needs a quick setting for cop-dialogue or (2) the stereotype is to be made fun of. you might as well ask why there are so many bad movies out there.

btw: according to two cops who lived next door to me in LA the favorite cop-movie in their department was -for ages- Heat. no donuts and pretty much every other cop in it dies, so go figure.
posted by krautland at 6:33 PM on October 30, 2008

There was a thread on Reddit a while ago called "Ask A Cop." Someone asked the same question you did. The cop's answer: cops in the field are constantly on the go and don't have time to stop and get more substantive food, and donuts are the perfect snack.
posted by svolix at 6:40 PM on October 30, 2008

Seconding Canadian cop cars permanently affixed to Tim Hortons. Just true.
posted by unSane at 6:42 PM on October 30, 2008

Well,
I'd always thought the cops & donuts, or just America + donuts thing was a really exaggerated stereotype.

Then I visited, and would be stopping in small towns late at night looking for food - and...
"What the hell? The only thing available is donut stores? Why the *&^( would I want donuts at 3am?"

(So, that's cultural conditioning for you. Americans just looked at me in bewilderment when I mention this, Why wouldn't you want donuts?.
Donuts just don't fall into the 'food' category for me. Even more grease, and protein is an essential requirement. Best I could get was stale bagels with packet cream cheese. :P
*shrug* )
posted by Elysum at 6:46 PM on October 30, 2008

Any suggestions why this association with cops and donuts exists?

Because cops eat donuts.

A bit like cows and grass, etc.
posted by fire&wings at 6:49 PM on October 30, 2008

I think it is more cliche than truth now. All the cops and firemen I see in L.A. hang out at Poquito Mas.

I do hear it is a good place to go "wayy-oooh way-ooh way-oooh" and walk like an Egyptian though.
posted by drjimmy11 at 7:00 PM on October 30, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

I'd always presumed this was just an American thing. There is no such association in Australia.
posted by pompomtom at 7:09 PM on October 30, 2008

Everybody eats donuts. Cops are just more comfortable with the lifestyle.
posted by Foam Pants at 7:15 PM on October 30, 2008

When I lived in Atlanta I had a nonstandard work schedule. I often drove by the 24-hour Krispy Kreme store on North Avenue at odd times, and there were always cop cars out front. Cops & donuts might be a cliche, but it's not just a cliche.
posted by workerant at 7:58 PM on October 30, 2008

I used to have a friend who was a campus cop, and part-time city cop. While on campus, I'd sometimes ride with him during shifts.

The local 7-11 got a new manager, who stopped the policy of free coffee for cops. They didn't take it as an insult, but with free coffee down the street at the Stop&Go, why pay for it at the 7-11?

Result: fewer cops hanging around, and a few weeks/robberies later, the 7-11 reinstated free coffee.

You can call it bribery/protection money if you want; in a way it was. But it was also like leaving a bit of cat food out to keep the barn cats around, hunting mice.

So, why? Because those 2 foods (coffee & donuts) are often free to them, and having cops around in the wee hours deters crime (as noted several times above).
posted by IAmBroom at 9:04 PM on October 30, 2008

Donut Mess With a Cop -- TV Tropes

CAMPUS COP CHARGED WITH STEALING DONUTS -- current AP wire story

In my previous residence, Evanston, there was a flap about a White Hen Pantry that let cops use a back room as a break room. Apparently it was especially popular during the winter. Well, there were too many complaints about too many cops apparently hanging out there instead of patrolling and the practice was banned.* In any case, it's another data point of a business prone to robbery that used incentives to keep some protection around.

* This may be like when I wasn't allowed to take my scheduled breaks from IT support reading the paper in the cafeteria, no matter how much it helped me decompress. It just made the help desk look bad.
posted by dhartung at 10:22 PM on October 30, 2008

Perhaps it's confirmation bias?

I mean, you could see a cop with a donut, or a cop without a donut at this time, but you never see a cop with an anti-donut.
posted by Mike1024 at 2:44 AM on October 31, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

In Britain they buy cups of shitty tea from petrol stations and chip shops.

I guess it's just what's available.
posted by Happy Dave at 3:19 AM on October 31, 2008

"In Britain they buy cups of shitty tea from petrol stations and chip shops"

In the UK there was something in the same spirit although with less sugar and caffeine. The local Bobby would get a free take-away at the end of the night and the local eaterie would be sure that any post-pub rowdiness was always quickly dealt with.

I understand this practice has been "discouraged" (don't get caught) for some time though.
posted by fullerine at 4:04 AM on October 31, 2008

I understand this practice has been "discouraged" (don't get caught) for some time though.

Silly bastards. It's cosy wee arrangements like this that actually make a lot of small communities work quite well. These days a night out in a typical English market town is full of aggro.
posted by Happy Dave at 4:37 AM on October 31, 2008

this only applies in the USA. if you ever watched non-US cop dramas you will notice the stereotype is generally absent. (well UK and Australian Cop drama)
posted by mary8nne at 7:21 AM on October 31, 2008

The owners of these places started offering free donuts to the police in the hopes of having more cops around at night to deter theft.

Canada, you'll find the cop cars outside ... Tim Hortons (donuts)

Cops still get free coffee at Tim Hortons in Canada. I'm not sure if it's official policy, but they all do it.
posted by bonehead at 9:16 AM on October 31, 2008

Cops still get free coffee at Tim Hortons in Canada. I'm not sure if it's official policy, but they all do it.

This is so not true. Not where I live anyway (Prairies).
posted by kelrae3 at 7:13 AM on November 1, 2008

The first cops-and-donuts scene to pop into my head is from Wayne's World: Cops and teenagers converge in a donut shop named after a hockey player. This is parody verging on documentary; it's what the actual Tim Hortons experience was like, particularly back in the days when donut shops were the only indoor venue--particularly in the suburbs--where Canadian teenagers could hang out and smoke without freezing their asses off.

I suppose cops have a similar aversion to hypothermia, and so rather than sitting in their cruisers running the heater and wasting gas, they just go to the nearest donut shop (which, in Canada at least, is never more than a couple blocks away).

FWIW, in order to compete with the fast food chains' recent late night hours, most donut shops now sell actual food, usually of the soup-and-sandwich variety.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:39 AM on November 3, 2008