EXCLUSIVE: Seattle Police officers refused service at local chocolate shop

A Seattle police officer and a trainee walked into Chocolati on N. 45th Street in the Wallingford neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 PM looking for a snack. According to their website, "Chocolati was established in the year 2003 with the philosophy of making delightful chocolate confections that were both aesthetically creative and of the highest quality."

According to sources in SPD with knowledge of the events, the employee behind the register finished serving the customer in front of the officer. The officer then walked up to the register to order. The employee, a white female with green streaks in her hair, ignored the officer.

When the officer got her attention, he asked for a box of chocolates and the employee said, "No, I won’t serve you."

The officer and the trainee left Chocolati, whose website claims that their “goal is to grow at a steady pace without compromising the quality and the personal attention we give to our customers and to our chocolates.”

The Post Millennial contacted Chocolati for comment and a store employee answered the phone. Upon informing the employee of the purpose of the call, the employee said to The Post Millennial, "Is this how you want to spend your time? Getting essential workers in trouble?"

The employee continued, "Shouldn’t you be spending your time harassing homeless people?"

In response, The Post Millennial suggested leaving a number for the owner or manager, to which the employee responded, "You really want to spend your time getting essential workers in trouble?"

The Post Millennial then said that we would attempt to reach the owner or manager another time. The employee agreed that would be preferable and then added, "…and go F*** yourself."

UPDATE: Following the publication of this article, another police officer contacted The Post Millennial with a similar story from a different date where they were refused service at the Chocolati location on E. Green Lake Dr. N.

Seattle Police officers have been leaving the force in droves for the last few years. Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz recently described the situation to the Seattle City Council as a "staffing crisis beyond mitigation" and added that officers would have to say "no to requests for services" as a result of the current staff shortage and more potential cuts the council is considering.

Sources at SPD told The Post Millennial that the department now has the lowest deployable number of officers since the 1980s. A record 193 officers separated from SPD in 2020 through transfers, retirements, or resignations, in response to ongoing riots, as well as demonization by members of the Seattle City Council.

Two-thirds of officers cited the Council’s treatment of officers as a reason for their departures in exit interviews. 2020 also saw a doubling of the number of homicides in the city from 2019, spikes in crime following ongoing riots, an autonomous zone, and the Council defunding the department.