Cop + doughnuts = money for a good cause

By Alexis Stevens and Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

If you're planning to grab a doughnut for breakfast this weekend, you'll want to be on your best behavior. There may be some cops around.

Police officers from around the metro area are again participating in a fund-raiser for the Special Olympics by spending time on the roofs of businesses they should know well: doughnut shops.

Cops took to the roofs of 14 Krispy Kreme shops beginning at 6 a.m. Friday and will stay there until 6 p.m. Sunday. Donate as little as $5 and you'll receive a sweet treat, according to organizers of the “Cops on Doughnut Shops” event.

Last year's event raised $112,000, and volunteers hope to increase that amount this year.

Atlanta police Maj. Robert Browning plans to spend the weekend atop scaffolding alongside the roof of the Krispy Kreme on Ponce de Leon Avenue.

Browning, who is participating in his 6th Cops on Doughnut Shops fund-raiser, said the rain forecast for the weekend wouldn't likely chase him from his post.

"If there's no hurricane, lightning, or anything like that, I'll be camping out in a tent on the scaffolding," Browning said. "It's going to have to be pretty bad for me not to be there."

Scott Dixon of Atlanta was among the early contributors on Friday morning.

He said that when he drove up and saw a dozen or so police officers at the Krispy Kreme, "being here along Ponce, you never know what's going on, so I thought there may be some incident, but when I pulled in, it looked like a charity fundraiser."

Krispy Kreme customer Andrew Cannan said he "gladly" contributed to the Special Olympics Friday morning.

"Who's going to pass up a cop with a charitable cause?" Cannan asked, calling the Special Olympics an "absolutely great cause."

Krispy Kreme shops in the following cities are among those participating: Atlanta, Buford, Duluth, Lilburn, Marietta, Riverdale and Roswell.

There isn't a Krispy Kreme in Kennesaw, but that won't stop officers from the Cobb County city from participating. Their doughnut shop will instead by a donated RV, according to Officer Scott Luther.

"We're going to make our own [shop]," Luther told the AJC.

Kennesaw officers plan to have 550 dozen doughnuts ready for the event. They'll be parked near the intersection of Cobb Parkway and Old 41, Luther said.

Staff photographer John Spink contributed to this article.