Starbucks is apologizing after an employee at one of its Arizona stores asked a group of police officers to either move or leave its location. 

The organization issued a formal apology on Saturday to Tempe, Ariz. Police Chief Sylvia Moir and the entire department, according to Bloomberg News. 

ADVERTISEMENT

“When those officers entered the store and a customer raised a concern over their presence, they should have been welcomed and treated with dignity and the utmost respect," Starbucks said in a statement, Bloomberg News reported. “Instead, they were made to feel unwelcome and disrespected, which is completely unacceptable.”

The Tempe Officers Association said on Twitter on Friday that a Starbucks barista approached six police officers after they had each purchased drinks at the store on the Fourth of July. 
 
"The barista said that a customer 'did not feel safe' because of the police presence," the group said in a series of tweets. "The barista asked the officers to move out of the customer’s line of sight or to leave."
 
The officers elected to leave following the encounter, it added.
 
The Tempe Officers Association condemned the "treatment of public safety workers," calling the move "disheartening."
 
Reggie Borges, a spokesperson for Starbucks, had previously told The Arizona Republic that the company had contacted the Tempe Police Department to better understand what happened. 
 
"We want everyone in our stores to feel welcomed and the incident described is not indicative of what we want any of our customers to feel in our stores," he said.