From Night Shifts to Donut Shops: Tracing the Origins of the Police-Donut Relationship

The scene has been reproduced thousands of times on television: the little fatty police officer eating or treating his colleagues to donuts in the morning. But how did this "romantic" relationship between donuts and the police come about?

Let's travel back in time, specifically to the 1950s, when the only 24-hour food stores in America were those selling donuts (and, of course, coffee). Characteristically, in the 1960s, only 10% of restaurants were open at night, mainly catering to truck drivers.

police-donuts

With few options available, police officers on night duty ended up at a donut shop to eat something cheap on the go (many of them offered special deals to police officers), to sit down and complete all the paperwork, and to get the calories they needed to get through the night. Thanks to their small size, many officers took them along on their 10-hour shifts.

It's no coincidence that William Rosenberg, the founder of Dunkin Donuts, once stated, "We create hospitable spaces for police officers, as they will protect our stores."

As a result, some spaces were specifically designed to meet the needs of police officers. It's characteristic that in these "night" shops, which were once targeted by criminals, fewer robberies are now recorded compared to other shops...


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