Mall Cops!

[DALederle]

My wife was watching a program about Mall Cops at the Great American Mall in Minn. It was during "black friday" the day after Thanksgiving. Most of it I had done myself having been in private security for almost 20 years. I wasn't paying any attention until they had a call about a pair of teenage boys wearing dresses.
They went to the food court and found two teenage boys who had bought dresses and were wearing them for the rest of their day at the mall. One was a bare shouldered dress with small "spaghetti" straps on his shoulders. They didn't show enough of the boys for me to draw any conclusions about why they were dressed that way or if it was "appropiate" wear in public.
But the mall cop launched into an imediate speech about how the Mall requires (demands) gender appropiate dress and threatened the boys with a citation and/or arrest unless they go to a bathroom and change out of their dresses right then and there.
This was clearly intimadation by the Mall Cop of two teenage boys who wouldn't know any better. If I was there in a skirt or kilt or dress I would tell the Mall Cop cite me you are about to find yourself with a law suit.
I am still angry over seeing this segment but haven't fount it yet on the web!
I am going to try and contact Mall Of America about this!
DALederle

[crfriend]

This was clearly intimadation by the Mall Cop of two teenage boys who wouldn't know any better. If I was there in a skirt or kilt or dress I would tell the Mall Cop cite me you are about to find yourself with a law suit.

There's a word for this sort of behaviour: "bullying". The little tin god was acting that way because he perceived that he could get away with it. Had the target been an adult, as you point up, the response should have been, "May I have your name, sir?", and take it down in writing along with exact time and location (for a possible CCTV subpoena) A note of advice is not to telegraph the threat that you're going to file suit; let the little tin god wonder why you're making note of things. They sweat more that way. Of course if a teenager had been so insolent as to challenge the little tin god the teens would have been immediately expelled form the mall; depending on how supportive their parents were, things could get "interesting" for "Mall Security".

Unfortunately we don't have enough information to really pass judgment on this case; "being disruptive" (which would have been the likely charge) is highly subjective and, as such, open to abuse.

I am still angry over seeing this segment but haven't fount it yet on the web!
I am going to try and contact Mall Of America about this!

I suspect it's not worth getting worked up over. Just add the place to the list of other places you'll never visit.

[r.m.anderson]

Aye:

I live about 4 miles from the Mall of America and have visited it several times Kilted and Skorted but never in a Skirt.
It is amazing that with a piece of property composing of over 400 retail stores and kiosks movie theaters places to eat
and an amusement park an aquarium all this covering some 24 square blocks 4 stories high that one would be under the
assumption that this is a "PUBLIC PLACE".
"BUT" that is were you are wrong in that assumption !
The Mall of America is a place of "PRIVATE ENTERPRISE" and therefore you can at the pleasure of any of its tenants be shown
the door or cited for 'Trespassing on Private Property". Usually it will be because of conduct or shoplifting. I have not heard of
anyone having any trouble wearing clothing other than the gang related gear. On the weekend nights Friday & Saturday the Mall
is closed to unescorted minors to keep some level of mayhem in check.
Unless your conduct is unbecoming the merchants certainly are going to tolerate and wait on a paying customer no matter what.
There is a police substation within the Mall mostly for medical emergencies and criminal activities. Other than that the security
of the Mall is contracted out privately and they have lots of hidden cameras monitoring the entire complex. It is a pleasant
safe place to shop eat and play but I have not heard of any untoward activity directed to 'Men wearing Skirts'.
The turn over of smaller stores and kiosks is quite high and if you want to stay in business you just have to accept the customer as is.
Unless you are pushing the envelope wearing a very revealing micro-mini skirt you should not run into problems after all the place sells
this sort of stuff. One of course should be careful of wearing clothing around children not so much for the children but for what the
parents may perceive as a child molester. Asking for Big Time Trouble in River City! Other than that you should be able to treat it like
it was a public place just remember it is private though and keep it down to a light roar! LOL

rm