The Hole Story : Doughnuts Are Out as Officers Develop a Taste for Healthier Snacks in Keeping With Fitness Trend

Ventura Police Officer Dave Matz chomps on dried fruit when he’s in the mood for a nosh.

Thousand Oaks Sheriff’s Deputy Doug Herder hankers for air-popped popcorn.

And Oxnard Detective Joe Munoz has a thing for trail mix, fresh fruit and yogurt.

They are like a lot of cops in Ventura County these days.

They don’t eat doughnuts.

“Doughnuts went out awhile ago,” Ventura Officer Jack Richards said as he sipped a mug of hazelnut coffee. “Now it’s fat-free bran muffins, bagels and gourmet coffee. The yuppie policeman has arrived.”

Cops and Doughnuts.

They are stuck together in mythological embrace. But to the chagrin of anyone who has enjoyed teasing a police officer about doughnuts, it’s time to face the facts: Doughnuts are out of vogue.

Today’s finest are in better shape than they have ever been, they say. They exercise, don’t smoke, drink less . . . and rarely eat doughnuts.

Just ask their tailor of 14 years, Marcie Musilek.

“Now they do a lot of exercise,” said Musilek, a tailor at Uniforms, Etc., of Ventura which supplies uniforms for many of the county’s cops. “If they are chubby, they can’t chase the bad people.”

Musilek said she has noticed a big difference in waist sizes.

“Waistbands used to be 36 to 40 inches. Not anymore, no way. Now waistbands are 33 to 35 inches.”

Shrinking waists have meant a lot more work for Musilek.

“I do a lot of taking in waists because they all lose weight. But I have to be careful not to take too much in around the chest and legs because they do so many pushups and sit-ups now.

“They take better care of themselves now. They don’t eat too many doughnuts anymore.”

A Quick Late-Night Cup of Coffee

The doughnut conundrum began years ago when police cruisers across the country were sighted nightly outside doughnut shops.

“There was nowhere else to get a quick cup of coffee late at night,” said Ventura’s Matz. “Gas stations didn’t have coffee back then. And when you work the night shift, you need coffee.”

Doughnut shops were more than happy to oblige. Like any late-night small business, they are susceptible to robbery.

Their best defense? Police cars parked outside, officers inside.

“Doughnut shops don’t get robbed,” Matz said. “That’s the truth.”

The doughnut shop/cop axis still survives in some places in Ventura County. In fact, it has even taken on ethical shades of gray in recent months.

Several Simi Valley officers are under investigation for accepting free doughnuts and coffee--something that bakers offer gladly, but police chiefs find questionable.

If you listen to the way some officers talk, cops never ate doughnuts, they just drank coffee.

Not quite.

A national survey of police health habits conducted in 1977 by the International Assn. of Police Chiefs and the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research produced some astonishing figures.

“We found police to be in much worse shape than the general public and the inmate population,” said Dr. Susan Johnson of the Cooper Institute in Dallas.

“We found that 60% of them were seriously overweight and smoked as well. They were at a much greater risk for heart disease than the national average. Only 14% exercised regularly, and there was a high rate of alcoholism.

“The stereotype of the cop with a big belly full of doughnuts and Budweiser was accurate.”

But recent surveys show exercise is up and doughnuts are down.

“Police are approaching the fitness norm,” Johnson said. “Whereas they used to be sedentary and overweight, they’re now exercising and watching their fat and cholesterol intake.”

Following Health and Fitness Trends

Change came about in a variety of ways, usually voluntary.

The Ventura Police Department, for example, has not raised its physical standards in years. “People are getting into better shape because they want to,” Ventura Sgt. Ted Prell said. “We’re following health trends just like everybody else.

“The officers have their own gym that they paid for. Dozens of people use it every day.”

Cmdr. Kathy Kemp of the East Valley Sheriff’s Station credits education for the shift from doughnuts to healthy foods.

“We’re seeing a lot more college educated police officers than before,” Kemp said. “They are increasingly more sophisticated in their knowledge of legal issues, computers and good health habits.”

Hubert Williams, president of the Police Foundation in Washington, D.C., said staying in shape has become a necessity.

“Police today are faced with a much more threatening environment, and they clearly recognize they have to be in better shape to keep up and stay alive,” Williams said. “We weren’t dealing with young people going berserk on crack 25 years ago.”

It’s also a generational thing, Williams said.

“Police were historically blue collar and conservative. Today’s police officers are different. They’re more educated, they watch their cholesterol, run on the StairMaster, lift weights and eat health food. They’re part of America’s fitness craze, too.

“They’re yuppie cops and they’re setting new trends. They drink latte. Some even eat sushi.

“But don’t get me wrong, officers still enjoy a doughnut from time to time.”

Ventura’s Matz credits vanity as well.

“Nobody wants to look fat in their uniform,” he said.

“The bullet-proof vest already makes you look kind of big,” added Ventura’s Richards.

Doughnut Bakers Bear the Brunt

Once a cop’s best friend, doughnuts are now a subject of derision among some officers.

“People tease us about doughnuts, but they’re usually fat themselves,” said Oxnard Officer Chris Orsini. “They’re the ones eating the doughnuts.”

East County Deputy Dean Cook also harbors resentment toward fried dough.

“People still bring us boxes of doughnuts . . . they should bring us bagels instead. This is the ‘90s.”

To hear the ways doughnuts have been stigmatized is a painful experience for some bakers.

“It could bring tears to my eyes if I thought about it enough,” said Millie Gaines, owner of Yankee Doodle Bakery in Oxnard.

“We used to have police officers come around a lot more often 20 years ago. Now it’s rare to see them come in for a doughnut. We loved having them around. I miss them.”

Now it’s bottled water instead of beer, Power Bars instead of Snickers, turkey burgers instead of hamburgers, broiled fish instead of steak, margarine instead of butter and a side salad instead of fries. Salad bars are popular, and some officers even eat tofu.

But quiche?

“Too fatty,” East County Deputy Doug Herder said. “All that cheese. And the dough’s made from butter.”

So have doughnuts gone the way of two-officer police cruisers?

Not entirely.

Oxnard Officer Mike Williamson is an orthodox doughnut-eating cop of the old school. The reasonably svelte patrolman still likes doughnuts--and he’s not afraid to admit it.

“Sure I eat doughnuts, what’s the matter with doughnuts?” Williamson said. “I like doughnuts. What am I going to do, lie about it?”

Williamson, like several remaining doughnut lovers on the police force, still eats about two or three doughnuts a week.

His favorites are cinnamon twists, raspberry jelly doughnuts and glazed. But not powdered, he said.

“The problem with powdered doughnuts is the sugar gets all over your uniform.”