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Fast food restaurants give hefty discounts to police officers to encourage their presence in outlets as a form of cheap security.
The practice has been condemned by police national headquarters which has attempted to stop it, but says it has failed because officers want the discounted food.
The Herald on Sunday has found that McDonald's, Burger King and Denny's all offer discounts - as high as 50 per cent - to officers who dine in uniform, or present police-issued ID cards.
The Auckland district manager for Denny's - which has seven eateries around New Zealand - said the company tempts police officers with a 20 per cent discount to save on its security costs.
"On a graveyard shift we don't have security and when the police come we have security for staff and nobody causes trouble," said Krishna Anirudh.
Greg O'Connor, president of the Police Association, conceded it was cut-price security for the American fast food chains. "The reason they do it, particularly in the case of McDonald's, is to encourage police officers to be around for security."
One waiter at Denny's Hobson St, Auckland branch said up to 30 officers dined each day.
Police had been "in negotiations" with the chains to "try and stop them from doing it", he said. Asked if the practice was acceptable to the Police Association, O'Connor replied: "The reality of it is that the providers make these [discounts] available and it is really up to individual police officers if they accept the discount."
O'Connor said fast food is not the only thing officers can obtain discounts on.
Internal police regulations clearly state that sworn police staff are not allowed to accept "a discount on any goods or services where that discount is offered because that person is a member of police".
The national manager of professional standards, Superintendent Stu Wildon, said he would be alerting all district commanders to the policy and demanding greater enforcement. He said he was unaware of the prevalence of fast food discounts for police, and feared the publicity would cause damage to the force's reputation.
"The soliciting and receipt of gratuities and rewards certainly is perceived by some as corruption and that is one of the reasons we need to be pro-active in managing and investigating it," Wildon said.
He said it was important to note that officers are not negotiating the discounts but that they are offered to police by businesses. Police rules say officers are allowed to receive calendars, diaries and notebooks, pens, ties, cufflinks, hats, badges, paperweights and "other items of little intrinsic value".
Former police officer and current police spokesperson for National, Chester Burrows, has called for the end to special police discounts on any product or service.
"The idea of getting cheap anything because you are in a police uniform is just not on these days... these deals aren't offered for anything other than expectation that when they press the button that police will turn up," Burrows said.
Revelations of the discount scheme come four months after police aborted a 20-year relationship with McDonald's, worth $40,000 annually. The deal enabled the company's mascot, Ronald McDonald, to visit schools and preschools to talk about road safety.
The dumping came weeks after the Government announced a $67 million programme to fight child obesity, but police bosses said the timing was coincidental.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
