2 Cop-Owned Doughnut Shops

One of the most popular and pervasive police stereotypes is that of a cop munching on one, if not several, doughnuts while leaving a tell-tale trail of powdered sugar across the front of his blue uniform.

While some officers may resent this image of their profession as doughnut-devouring machines, other police have not only accepted this depiction in good humor but embraced it and catered to it, as well.

Here are two doughnut shops that have fun with the cop-doughnut stereotype. They are cop-owned and cop-themed:

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1. Cops & Doughnuts
This doughnut shop in Clare, Michigan, began as the Clare City Bakery when it was founded in 1896. But when the bakery was within weeks of closing its doors after more than 100 years of business, all nine members of the Clare Police Department stepped up and contributed $1,500 each to save the bakery, according to Michigan Live, before reopening in 2009 as the police-themed bakery Cops & Doughnuts.

The bakery, which proudly displays historic police photos and hundreds of police patches from all across the state and country in its decorations, proudly boasts that it is "100% cop-owned." The menu offers a myriad of unique doughnuts, including red velvet, pumpkin, the peanut butter "Deputy" deluxe, and the Bacon Squealer, a Long John covered in maple frosting with two slices of bacon slapped on top.

2. Ex Cop Donut Shop
This Oakville, Missouri, shop was founded by Frank and Linda Laforte, both of whom are retired St. Louis police officers. It seeks to address "all your donut emergencies," according to its Facebook page. The shop offers everything from classic glazed doughnuts to zany varieties interspersed with elements from Frank Laforte’s Sicilian heritage. Popular doughnuts include the maple, bacon and egg Long John, and also Butterfinger, Oreo, pistachio, chocolate-espresso bean, Sicilian Crème, Sicilian Inis, and coral-blue cotton candy and pink bubble-gum doughnuts for the kids, according to St. Louis Magazine.

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