Bank code

If you have a job, you probably have a dress code, and we all remember them from school, too. Some fancy restaurants have them. But how about having to comply with one just to do your banking?

SOUTH BEND — It's every bank teller's worst fear — the next customer could be the one who pulls a gun and demands money. At least one local credit union is now using a dress code to deter robbers.

In a sign clearly posted outside all TCU branches, customers are asked not to wear sunglasses, hats or hoodies inside. Banks in other parts of the country like Seattle, Missouri and Texas are already enforcing customer dress codes. They say it's curbing robberies.

“We have to correctly identify you,” explained TCU Vice President of Marketing and Research Becky Summers. “Legally we have to do that and for other reasons we have to do that as well.”

Seems reasonable to me. It's no more intrusive of "customers' rights" than the signs at supermarkets that say, "No shoes, no shirt, no service." And who but a robber or an idiot would want to wear sunglasses and a hoodie into a bank?

A police captain is quoted making the valid and interesting point that an even more effective solution would be for banks to get better surveillance cameras, since only about 10 to 20 percent have ones that are good enough to capture recognizable pictures. "Oh, look there on the TV, Earl. It's a bank robber, wearin' a blurry hoodie. He sure ought to be easy to spot on the street."