Paparazzi Ordinance, 1st Ld
Date: 04-08-2008 3:29 PM - Word Count: 397
Paparazzi Ordinance, 1st Ld
Report: Paparazzi Ordinance Would Be Unenforceable
Eds: ADDS report presented, quote from commission meeting.
By ALICE WALTON
City News Service
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - An ordinance aimed at protecting celebrities from
aggressive paparazzi by creating a ``personal safety zone'' would be ambiguous
and difficult to enforce, police Chief William Bratton said in a report
presented today to the Police Commission.
Councilman Dennis Zine called for tighter controls on the paparazzi
after the Los Angeles Police Department spent $25,000 earlier this year to
transport Britney Spears from her Studio City home to UCLA Medical Center in
Westwood.
The police escort was needed to prevent photographers from documenting
the pop star's hospitalization, the LAPD said at the time.
Bratton's report found that Zine's proposal to regulate the distance
between photographers and their subjects would ``create an inequitable and
ambiguous code that would likely be unenforceable.''
The proposed ordinance also raises questions as to who is classified as
a ``celebrity'' or ``paparazzo,'' whether the LAPD is showing favoritism toward
celebrities and whether the general public is entitled to the same protection,
Bratton said.
The councilman called Bratton's report premature, noting that the City
Council's Public Safety Committee has not yet heard the issue and the proposal
has not been vetted by the City Attorney's Office.
``This doesn't stop me or tell me that the matter is resolved,'' Zine said.
In the report, Bratton pointed out that there are already laws, such as
jaywalking, speeding and battery, that officers can use to regulate unruly
photographers.
``Vigilant enforcement of these laws should deter paparazzi from
creating circumstances that potentially endanger the life of the subjects being
photographed and/or the surrounding community,'' Bratton wrote in the report.
Cmdr. Kirk Albanese said other cities do not have specialized paparazzi
laws.
``The city of Beverly Hills, who also as one can imagine deals with this
issue, does not have special statutes for it, nor does Las Vegas,'' Albanese
said.
``The department believes we are best served by those existing laws that
are at our disposal to deal with these situations.''
Those laws do not go far enough, Zine said.
``We need specific sections dealing with the paparazzi,'' he said.
``What do we do the next time Britney Spears has to go to the hospital?
Do we spend another $25,000 and (deploy) those police resources that are
stretched so far?''
CNS-04-08-2008 15:29