Australia shopping centre bans "hoodies" to cut crime

CANBERRA (Reuters Life!) - An Australian shopping centre has banned customers from covering their heads with sweatshirt hoods or caps in a bid to reduce crime and to improve the image of the mall as a safe place.

The Tweed City shopping centre at Tweed Heads, 830 kms (516 miles) north of Sydney, implemented what is believed to be the first Australian ban on hoodies and caps, implementing the rule on Thursday nights after 6 p.m.

Young troublemakers often use hoods and caps to hide their face from security cameras.

Shopping centre spokesman Michael Tree said signs advised customers of the new rule which was about behavior rather than a dress code, although hoodies are known to be the favored garment of youths associated with gangs.

"Our intention has always been to manage behavior, never to implement a dress code," Tree told Reuters.

"We wanted to see if this would lead to a marked decrease in antisocial behavior and also influence the perception the customer has of the centre. I am loathe to use the terms gangs ... as not every kid in a hoodie is a gang member."

He said every bank has a picture of a motorbike helmet with a line through it, telling customers to take their helmets off before entering so that security cameras could see people's faces, and this idea was extended to the mall.

"It was also a case of trying to manage perceptions in the community and the belief that the shopping centre is a safe place to go," he said.

He said the centre's management was reviewing the ban which was under trial for three weeks and would decide shortly whether or not it would be implemented permanently.

The idea of banning hoodies has been floated before in Australia after a shopping centre in Britain in 2005 banned hoodies and successfully cut the crime rate.

Retailers in the state of Queensland called for a ban in 2005, according to local newspaper reports, but Queensland police ruled out such a move, saing police officers would not target people wearing hoodies because they were not the fashion police.

Youth advocates have argued against such a move, saying banning hoodies would alienate youngsters and reduce their sense of identity.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Miral Fahmy)