Does a police officer have the right to tell me I cannot wear a bandana?

Question

I was at the mall with my fiancé, my brother, and his wife. I have longer hair and I wear a bandana to keep it out of my eyes. As we were walking in the theatre to see “The Dark Knight” inside our local mall, a police officer made a massive scene and screamed at me for wearing a bandana. He told me to take it off or he would escort me out. I assumed this was due to some power trip. I was just really embarrassed because of the scene he made. My question is, did he have a right to do this? I was so thrown off I did not know what to say.

Answer 1

no he doesn't have Anny Right to tell you what to wear

Answer 2

i dont know the full context of the issue but as far as i know...abosolutely not. he should not tell you to take a bandana off..unless the movie theater had some sort of policy about head coverings or something

Answer 3

It was probably a rent-a-cop enforcing the anti-gang dress code.

And I have to wonder who was actually making a scene...

Answer 4

I agree with Kevy.  Also, there could be a local ordinance against bandanas.  Yes- it could be possible!  In my neck of the woods, it's illegal for women to wear patent leather shoes and whale hunting is outlawed, even though I live in a land locked state.  However, I can't see why the officer would behave that way, unless something else was going on.

Answer 5

You are more educated and successful in your career choices? Looking about at some of your other questions. I have an similar college degree to yours and I make more money. Plus I get $35 an hour to stand around our local mall off duty. Can't really beat that.

I don't care about the situation, you asked if he can tell you to take off the bandanna...yes he can if he is performing private security duties for the mall. If you feel he was out of line, most police and sheriff departments have complaint procedures.

Answer 6

Malls are private property and are normally patrolled by private security officers not by police officers.

Since it is private property they have considerable more rights about controlling what can and can not be worn on the premises.

Answer 7

No, he has no right to tell you what to wear.

Answer 8

The other posters are correct that the mall can set whatever rules that they want for their property.  They can even hire security to enforce these rules by, for instance, asking you to leave.  But when they try to enforce "secret", unposted rules, they are not on very strong footing (unless the rules are obvious like - no disruptions, no criminal activity, no nudity, etc.).

Additionally, threatening to "escort" you out sounds like they are pushing it a little bit, but that depends on how you interpret the word "escort."  If it means "walk along side you to make sure you leave", then that is probably okay.  If it means, "touch you", then there is a reasonable argument to be made that he was threatening to batter you, and this is probably justification for a lawsuit.  Of course, he would deny that he would have done anything other than asked you to leave and followed you out had you told him to buzz off.

Next, because this was a police officer in uniform, (even if technically he was working as a security guard) I think you could make a plausible argument for a civil rights violation.  Specifically, when a police officer in uniform does /anything/, they are doing it under color of law within the meaning of the civil rights act, 42 USC 1983.  It would be unconstitutional, and therefore a civil rights violation, for a state actor such as a police officer in uniform (even if he is working a side-job) to require you to remove the bandana unless he were enforcing some sort of clearly posted rule on the private property.  The reason for this is that it is unclear whether he is asserting governmental authority in his capacity as a police officer, or the property-owner's authority in their capacity as property-owner.  A normal person being accosted by a cop under these circumstances would feel that the officer is asserting some sort of governmental authority, either alone or in conjunction with their authority as agent of the mall.  

People will disagree with this, saying it is private property, blah blah blah, but they don't understand the legal nuances of the situation, and they don't understand the significance of a police officer being involved [regardless of whether he is on duty], so ignore them.  Uniformed police can work as private security depending on the rules of their department, but when they do so, they maintain the constitutional character of being a "state actor" and that introduces constitutional and other limitations on their actions.  Ironically, they have a lot less authority than a normal private security guard would have in that situation.

Furthermore, lets assume you are black or hispanic.  You might have a plausible argument that they were targetting you because of your race, which would be illegal.  I don't really think this would fly, but if you were to sue them it would be enough of a headache that they'd probably offer a small settlement.  And frankly, even without knowing the details, the bandana rule does sound like it might be tainted with some sort of racial motivation.

Last, assuming you had already bought a ticket, and there is no bandana rule posted, it is a little late for them to try to kick you out.  i.e., you were wearing the bandana when they sold you the ticket, and now, after the fact, they are now saying you can't watch the movie without taking the bandana off?  After buying the ticket, you have a contractual right to see the movie, in accordance with the terms on the ticket/any other clearly posted rules.  By threatening to not allow you to see the movie because of your attire, they are breaching the contract and you could perhaps sue them for that.

As a legal matter, your real problem is that you did not suffer any real harm other than annoyance and indignity.  It would not be worth it to sue them even if you had a good case, and because your damages are so small, very few attorneys would want to work with you.

Personally, if something like this happened to me, I would contact the manager of the theater and the mall and let them know about the situation.  I would also file an internal affairs complaint against the officer for his rude conduct.

They shouldn't have done that to you - sorry it happened.  Good luck.

Edit:  The more I think about this, the more I think you might have a case against this idiot (and, as a derivative of that, against BOTH the mall and the sheriff's office).  Specifically, the comment "“Take it off or I’ll take you outside”, coming from a uniformed police officer, is basically assault, a threat to batter you, and a threat to unlawfully detain & transport you.  Do you have an ACLU branch in your area?  If so, contact them.

Answer 9

because the mall is private property, and they are most likely paying him to patrol off duty, he can tell you to remove the bandanna, if the mall has a dress code.

I would like to hear the officers side of the story.

You say you are "far more educated", but you choose to ignore the rules of the mall and become annoyed when you are asked to remove it. Police officers do not just fly off the handle for no reason. You would have had to of provoked his reaction.

PS he is not mall patrol, he is a deputy sheriff, which is a very honorable career, well it is to people who respect the law and civilized society.

Answer 10

The officer was probably working off duty....the mall/theater is private property.  They mostly have dress codes....if the officer is working for the mall/theater off duty...then yes.  If you were on a public street or your home.....then no.  It seems your forgot to tell everyone that you ignored the officer  first time.  Secondly you had some smarta** remark....b/c you know everything.....am I wrong?  You created the, "scene"!  No...I don't have to be there to know what really happened.

Answer 11

Far more educated? You might want to think twice about that. You just stated he is a deputy sheriff, then say he is "mall patrol". Either way, you do what he says and stop trying to be a bada$$.

Answer 12

Depends on what area you are in and what the bandana represents in that area.

In the malls near me, YES they have the right because you are not allowed to wear bandanas or ballcaps due to the representation of gang memberships.

To keep gang violence down, anything that can be considered gang-colors or gang-related is banned.

Answer 13

You sure he wasn't security working for the mall? Anyway, I would do as he said and then find his supervisor for clarification.

What about a muslim woman?