Feb 1, 2008 8:10 am US/Pacific
Escorting Brit To Hospital Cost LAPD $25K
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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It reportedly cost the Los Angeles Police Department $25,000 to escort Spears to UCLA Medical Center on Jan. 31.
CBS
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Pop star Britney Spears arrives at the Los Angeles County Superior courthouse Jan. 14, 2008, for a hearing regarding visitation rights for her two sons that she has with ex-husband, Kevin Federline.
Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images
It cost the Los Angeles Police Department approximately $25,000 to escort Britney Spears from her Studio City home to UCLA Medical Center in Westwood to be hospitalized on a psychiatric hold, it was reported Friday.
LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore told the Los Angeles Times that it was
"a shame" that escorting the pop star diverted scarce police resources from "public safety needs such as violent crime, drunken driving or responding to the ongoing stream of 911 calls."
But he said the department "had no choice but to ensure that we appropriately dealt with this incident."
The effort, which the LAPD estimates cost $25,000, was carried out with
the help of the department's Crisis Response Support Section, a unit that deals specifically with the mentally ill, The Times reported.
Several LAPD squad cars and motorcycles followed the Los Angeles Fire
Department ambulance that took Spears to UCLA Medical Center around 1 a.m. Thursday.
The LAPD said in a statement Thursday that it used "a number of resources" in escorting the ambulance because of "previous, overly aggressive actions of some members of the media, and in particular members of the paparazzi."
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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