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Any reason why restaurants don't file a formal complaint with police? As in, even in the red case there which is for touching, they just tell the customer to le

Any reason why restaurants don't file a formal complaint with police? As in, even in the red case there which is for touching, they just tell the customer to leave. AFAIK, this type of case won't require much effort especially with CCTV and it will send a strong message to harassers if significant number of business starts doing that.

tptacek 9y ago
Because the police are not equipped to handle "petty" sexual assault cases as a routine. The only process they have to resolve these problems, besides enforcing a restaurant manager's request that a patron leave the building (which isn't a real problem), is to take a complaint and make an arrest, which is expensive not only for the victim but also for the accuser. People have weird ideas about what the police do. Much as they'd like to pretend otherwise, they aren't referees or mediators.
ThrustVectoring 9y ago
Economic self-interest? It takes worker time to file formal complaints and involve the police, and if they can get the customer banned that's all the owners really need.
hasbroslasher 9y ago
The costs of calling the police to your own restaurant are wayyyyy higher than you seem to be thinking. Everybody in the building will remember their time at your restaurant as "that one time the police showed up and took that guy in who was screaming the whole time about how the hostess is lying and he's a father of a family of four, goddammit!" Even in the best case, where the cops show up, talk to the guy, cite him (or something) and leave, something like touching/grabbing a staff member or making inappropriate comments is going to be really hard to catch or prove in a court... Having your manager go up to the table and calmly tell him that it's time to go is going to be way less likely to disrupt other customers. And last, what restaurants have you been to that have CCTV? Fast food, definitely, but I don't remember the last time I sat down for a nice meal out and noticed security cameras on the walls. This produces an atmosphere similar to calling the cops into your restaurant: you're implying that people who go there are sketchy enough to deserve being surveilled or brought in by the authorities at any point.
- leesalminen 9y ago
  Every restaurant I’ve been to has cameras, at a minimum around cash drawers. I’m scary good at spotting cameras though. It’s a weird skill. In fact, I’m at a fancy restaurant at a yacht club in the Cayman Islands right now and spotted 2 cameras.
tyingq 9y ago
Touching is obviously a crime, but saying whatever outlandish thing you want to say, or whatever horrible gestures, etc, isn't a crime anywhere I know of in the US. Sitting down and asking the waitress "hey, cutie...wanna fuck?" is obviously terrible, but not criminal. It's not even criminal between employees, even if it's your boss. Fireable offense, yes. Civil tort, maybe. But nobody is going to jail.
OscarCunningham 9y ago
Do you think any bussiness is ever going to trust the police after what happened to United Airlines?

tptacek 9y ago

Because the police are not equipped to handle "petty" sexual assault cases as a routine. The only process they have to resolve these problems, besides enforcing a restaurant manager's request that a patron leave the building (which isn't a real problem), is to take a complaint and make an arrest, which is expensive not only for the victim but also for the accuser. People have weird ideas about what the police do. Much as they'd like to pretend otherwise, they aren't referees or mediators.

ThrustVectoring 9y ago

Economic self-interest? It takes worker time to file formal complaints and involve the police, and if they can get the customer banned that's all the owners really need.

hasbroslasher 9y ago

The costs of calling the police to your own restaurant are wayyyyy higher than you seem to be thinking. Everybody in the building will remember their time at your restaurant as "that one time the police showed up and took that guy in who was screaming the whole time about how the hostess is lying and he's a father of a family of four, goddammit!" Even in the best case, where the cops show up, talk to the guy, cite him (or something) and leave, something like touching/grabbing a staff member or making inappropriate comments is going to be really hard to catch or prove in a court... Having your manager go up to the table and calmly tell him that it's time to go is going to be way less likely to disrupt other customers. And last, what restaurants have you been to that have CCTV? Fast food, definitely, but I don't remember the last time I sat down for a nice meal out and noticed security cameras on the walls. This produces an atmosphere similar to calling the cops into your restaurant: you're implying that people who go there are sketchy enough to deserve being surveilled or brought in by the authorities at any point.

leesalminen 9y ago
Every restaurant I’ve been to has cameras, at a minimum around cash drawers. I’m scary good at spotting cameras though. It’s a weird skill. In fact, I’m at a fancy restaurant at a yacht club in the Cayman Islands right now and spotted 2 cameras.

tyingq 9y ago

Touching is obviously a crime, but saying whatever outlandish thing you want to say, or whatever horrible gestures, etc, isn't a crime anywhere I know of in the US. Sitting down and asking the waitress "hey, cutie...wanna fuck?" is obviously terrible, but not criminal. It's not even criminal between employees, even if it's your boss. Fireable offense, yes. Civil tort, maybe. But nobody is going to jail.

OscarCunningham 9y ago

Do you think any bussiness is ever going to trust the police after what happened to United Airlines?