Mannequin's wardrobe malfunction draws complaints

What began as a complaint about an exposed Mannequin in a store window is raising debate over what is considered obscene. The Beatrice Police Department received a complaint from a citizen earlier this week about a mannequin in the window of Hannah’s Treasures, at 504 Court Street, who’s pants had fallen down around its ankles. Police say they tried to contact the store’s owner, Kevin Kramer, about covering up the mannequin, but were unsuccessful.



Officers then taped paper over the area of the window where the mannequin was, to cover it up. According to Kramer, officers violated several laws by covering up his store window. The store was not opened for business, as Kramer says he is in the process of moving his store to Lincoln. “I had a phone call Wednesday from a lady who used to work for me saying there’s paper on the windows covering up the mannequin,” Kramer said. “(The police) have to find something to do, so they go pick on the guy with the naked mannequin.”

Kramer alleges that the officers violated multiple laws, including trespassing, destruction of property and littering. When Kramer contacted officers about the issue, he claims he was informed to go to the police station, where he would be cited for disorderly conduct. At this point, Kramer contacted a lawyer, Dustin Garrison, who insists that the police department broke the law in covering up the mannequin and threatened to take legal action against the city.



“Nothing about a naked mannequin constitutes obscenity,” Garrison said. “I think we’ve all gone into a department store and seen a naked mannequin at one point in our lives. In our opinion, nothing that Mr. Kramer did was obscene or criminal in nature. Officers did conduct themselves in a criminal manner.” Despite claims that the display was not obscene, as of Friday morning, Kramer had dressed the mannequin in a candy bikini along with a toy assault rifle.