2003-05-26
... ? Police ban hooded tops from high streetThe hooded top - the must-have fashion accessory for teenage boys - is being banned from shopping centres in the latest police crackdown on juvenile crime. Hats, including baseball caps, are also being prohibited. Officers believe the hooded sweatshirt - or hoodie - is routinely used by young shoplifters to disguise their identity on CCTV cameras. Just as banks ban people from wearing crash helmets on their premises, now the hooded top is being outlawed in high street shops. The first scheme to ban the hoodie - as well as hats - is now up and running in Basildon, Essex, in a six-month trial that began in April. Other forces, including Hampshire and Devon and Cornwall, have plans to introduce similar initiatives. Shoplifting costs the retail industry more than £2bn a year.
