They are the uniform of thugs and muggers and the sight of young people wearing
them makes law-abiding citizens feel scared.
Hooded tops and baseball caps have been adopted by cowardly yobs up and down the land
to hide their faces from CCTV cameras while they commit crime to terrorise victims unable
to identify them.
So the decision by Bluewater shopping centre in Kent to ban the clothing has
pleased people fed up with constant intimidation. The Prime Minister backed the decision.
He said: “I agree with it.” The Bluewater ban will be met by cries of discrimination from
innocent teenagers who argue they should be allowed to wear what they want.
But police say that more than half of robberies in some parts are carried out by
thugs in hoods and baseball caps – a gangster-style look made popular by US rap stars
such as Eminem.
The ban is no different to stopping people wearing crash helmets in banks in an
effort to prevent armed robberies. It may also help to stop Britain’s retail crime epidemic,
which is said to cost the industry £2 billion a year. A similar scheme in Basildon, Essex, led
to a decrease in shoplifting.