[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Graham

Interesting phrasing there, "take them off *AND* not threaten..." surely it would be sufficient to say "not threaten or menace someone"? What they're wearing isn't relevant to that, is it?

Surely that's not too much to ask for in the name of people's safety, is it??

No, logically, what somebody is wearing is not relevant to their behaviour. However, it is a sad fact that a lot of people do use first impressions to form an opinion of someone, and they will make assumptions about a person based on clothing and appearances.

For instance, if you wear a suit, then people will assume you are gentleman or lady and not at all likely to mug them. If you are wearing a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie, they may assume you are going to mug them. In reality, you may be wearing them for comfort, and the person is then mugged by someone else wearing a suit.

But, the problem is people will often base their views on what people appear to be (ie, the man in the suit is a Gentleman, and the man in the hoodie a mugger). One example. A few weeks back, I was on a bus. An old lady was having trouble getting off the bus. A teenage black (wouldn't normally mention her colour, but it's important to the example) girl tried to help. The old woman screamed out that she'd been attacked, based purely on her assumption that a black person would mug her.

Unfortunately, it's the same sort of thing with hoodies and baseball caps. Because they have been used by criminals, people link them with criminals.

So, people see hoodies and baseball caps, they feel unsafe. Surely people have a right to feel safe while shopping (or at work)? I am not saying everyone feels unsafe, but obviously enough have expressed concern that the management at Bluewater think there is a problem.

I suspect another motivation is that people wearing any kind of hat can easily obscure their face from overhead CCTV cameras.

One final word. Bluewater is a privately run centre. They set the rules as to what people can or can't wear in their centre. They could suddenly ban people who wear (for a silly example) pink shirts, and we would have no real right to question it.

As I often say about NTL, if you don't like the way they operate, there are competitors (Lakeside for one).

Did you complain like this a few years ago when Harrods banned ripped jeans from the store?