Los Angeles News

LOS ANGELES Public safety and personal privacy are threatened when overly aggressive paparazzi snap pictures of celebrities, a Los Angeles city councilman said Thursday as he convened a City Hall hearing to explore the possibility of regulating photographers.

"They act like a pack of wolves, stalking their prey," said Councilman Dennis Zine, who convened a hearing that included representatives from West Hollywood, Malibu, the Screen Actors Guild, Sheriff Lee Baca, singer John Mayer and actors Eric Roberts and Milo Ventimiglia.

Creating a separate emergency telephone line for celebrities and issuing credentials to celebrity photographers some of the ideas floated during the hearing.

The Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department already provide press credentials to full-time employees of news organizations, which allow reporters to cross police and fire lines.

The LAPD does not credential entertainment or sports reporters.

Police Chief William Bratton, who did not attend the hearing, dismissed the idea of trying to issue credentials to all of the paparazzi as "like trying to herd cats."

"The idea of trying to create a secure space around a celebrity -- who's a celebrity? You? Me? By some definition we all fit," he said. "What is this protected space that they are entitled to that the rest of us are not entitled to?"

Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich suggested creating a separate phone line that famous people can call if they are being pursued by paparazzi.

"This task force hopefully can look at 911. Maybe we do need to create a separate number for paparazzi issues and for celebrities," she said.

"They know who you are, you have an ID number and we can help you. Then maybe we can charge separately -- maybe to the Academy, to the Screen Actors Guild," she said to the singer and actors seated at the table.

Zine introduced a motion earlier this year to create a "personal safety zone" between photographers and their targets. That proposal, which has yet to receive a hearing in the council's Public Safety Committee, was prompted by the estimated $25,000 cost the Los Angeles Police Department incurred transporting Britney Spears from her Studio City home to UCLA Medical Center in Westwood for a psychological evaluation earlier this year.

Spears was mobbed by photographers who shot flash pictures through the ambulance's windows and impeded its progress to the hospital. The pictures and video were later shown around the world.

Bratton suggested that the $25,000 estimate is incorrect.

"He doesn't know what he's talking about," Bratton said in reference to Zine. "Resources on duty that evening were all on-duty personnel."

Bratton told the Police Commission in April that the proposed ordinance would be ambiguous and difficult to enforce. The chief also argued that existing laws against jaywalking, speeding and battery -- if enforced -- are enough to regulate unruly photographers.

"Half of this issue -- actually about 90 percent of the issue is that celebrities should keep their clothes on," Bratton told Fox11 this morning.

"Paris Hilton's out of town, things are quiet; Lindsey Lohan's got a new girlfriend, that's keeping things quiet; and evidently Britney has gone straight now in terms of cleaning her act up, so basically paparazzi are losing interest," he said.

At the start of the hearing, Mayer, who was photographed Tuesday making an obscene gesture at a photographer, said he considers himself media-friendly but is concerned about a new breed of paparazzi who run red lights and speed to get pictures of celebrities.

"The danger exists in methods and tactics having absolutely nothing to do with picture-taking. In fact, removing a camera from the equation is a very effective way of looking at this situation candidly," Mayer said.

"Recently (the camera) has come to serve as all but an official license to encroach on someone's rights to protect themselves from threats of danger... it is also the most socially acceptable way to come within inches from someone who you do not know and who does not know you."

The Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles opposes any legislation that would curtail freedom of the press.

"It is our view that significant laws and statutes are presently on the books to control overzealous paparazzi," said John McCoy, president of the association.

"While the PPAGLA agrees with Councilman Dennis Zine that paparazzi behavior can be considered reckless, we do not see a need for further legislation that would prevent journalists from gathering the news."

The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists is also opposed to new legislation, saying there are already adequate laws on the books to contain reckless activities by paparazzi.

Nick Stern, a photographer who left his photo agency during the height of the Spears coverage, said there is a philosophical difference between reporters and news photographers and those identified as paparazzi.

"They have no passion for media. They have no passion for journalism or good news stories. They just want to make that fast buck. That's a big difference between a real journalist and a paparazzi," Stern said.

County Sheriff Lee Baca said he decided to attend the hearing to learn more about the issue.

"What I'm here to do is listen. I'm here to try and find a balanced answer. There's no question that the industry of public information is an important one to protect and I think that there's responsibility on the side of entertainers as there is responsibly on the side of those seeking to take photographs," Baca said.

The city of Malibu has turned to Ken Starr, the independent counsel who investigated President Clinton's involvement with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, for help on the issue.

Malibu officials asked Starr, dean of the Pepperdine law school, to put together a group of experts in the media and legal communities to draft a city ordinance that could possibly include a "buffer zone" or a tax on paparazzi.

Just last month a violent clash between surfers and paparazzi erupted on a Malibu beach when celebrity photographers tried to get pictures of actor Matthew McConaughey surfing.

Both photographers and Malibu beach-goers filed assault and battery complaints in connection with the brawl.

(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)