Suspect gets a real grilling

Part of "maintaining cordial relations": police

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Do you want fries with that?

Eager-to-please police have adopted the famous McDonald's catchcry, allowing an arrested man the chance to tuck into a Big Mac and fries en route to the lockup.

For some the new grilling tactics might seem a little hard to swallow, but police are defending the practice, saying it is all part of "maintaining cordial relations" with arrestees.

A fortnight ago Mt Wellington police picked up a 32-year-old Panmure man for suspected breach of bail but rather than take him straight to the cells, the arresting officers headed for Greenlane's Golden Arches.

They'd heard about the man's dislike of prison food, so instead of offering him an unhappy meal, they agreed to his back-seat request for McDonald's.

Once past the drive-through, the arrested man devoured a Big Mac Combo, a Quarter Pounder and a filet of fish total price $17.70 before being taken to Auckland Central for processing.

He spent the night in the cells and appeared in court the following day on one charge of breach of bail.

The arrested man who did not want his identity revealed told Sunday News it was not the first time police had been so accommodating. On another trip to lockup he had been allowed to smoke in the back of the police vehicle.

"I'm always well looked after. They let me eat, drink, smoke, do whatever, really," he said.

"The police can be very civilised when they choose to be. It's good to see. I think they hate to see a grown man go hungry."

An Auckland police spokeswoman said the two officers were well aware of the arrested man's "aversion to prison food" so "in the interests of maintaining cordial relations granted his request for a takeaway meal".

The spokeswoman said while on this occasion the prisoner did not smoke in the back of the police car there were rare occasions where inmates were allowed to light up. That depended entirely on the circumstances and was at the officers' discretion.

- © Fairfax NZ News