Britney Spears "hounding" recently caused one pap to quit his job with celebrity photo agency Splash - and now it looks like the troubled singer has inadvertently done celebrities everywhere a favor - after a Los Angeles City Councilman proposed a "personal safety zone" law that would make it harder for the media to close in quite so easily. Councilman Dennis Zine, a former police officer, introduced the motion Friday.
He said: "I don't want a repeat of what happened to Princess Diana with a celebrity in Los Angeles.
"We had to have 12 officers escort [Spears] to the hospital that if not for paparazzi would have been [available] to prevent crime somewhere else."
"It is a major issue we have to address. We are in a celebrity town."
Britney Spears' hospitalization reportedly cost the Los Angeles Police Department around $25,000 - just to make it harder for the paparazzi to get to her. And once the police were at the hospital, officers needed to ensure that other patients and staff remained safe while the onerous process of admitting Spears was under way.
A helicopter and a special team that guided the ambulance out of a side entrance of the Summit neighborhood were also employed.
Last month, four photographers were arrested for reckless driving after they were caught pursuing the 'Gimme More' singer - at what authorities said were dangerously high speeds, following too close to her vehicle and making unsafe lane changes.
"In their efforts to get the latest story, these photographers often pose a serious hazard to public safety," Zine wrote in his proposal.
"Paparazzi are becoming increasingly aggressive in their tactics, posing a clear danger not only to the people they are trying to photograph, but to the general public around them."
Earlier this week, police cited a number of shutterbugs for illegal parking after they pitched-up outside the gated community where Spears lives, where they were angling for a better view of the aftermath of her reported fight with manager Sam Lutfi.
According to E! Online, Zine's law would require the City Attorney's Office and the LAPD to draw up new ordinances to regulate how the paparazzi do business, including one stipulating a specific amount of "clear space" that would keep the madding crowd from disturbing private businesses and residences, blocking the entrances to emergency facilities and otherwise bothering people on public streets and sidewalks. They "block entrances to vital public service centers such as hospitals and courthouses," Zine's proposal says. "Private enterprise also suffers when paparazzi impede access to offices, shops and restaurants."
Police Chief William Bratton, while admitting that there are issues at hand, told the Los Angeles Times he doesn't think additional laws are in order.
"Councilman Zine is responding to frustration we all have with the paparazzi," Bratton said. "We already have appropriate laws within the constitutional guidelines and we intend to do that whether it is erratic driving, trespassing on private property or any action that goes beyond the constitutional rights to cover a story."
Spears, he said, is an L.A. resident who needed help the other night.
The paparazzi "are the ones making a spectacle of themselves," Bratton adds. "We will do what we need to do to protect the public from this cast of characters."
City Attorney and LAPD officials have been asked to report to the Public Safety Committee in 30 days with restriction ideas, including a minimum "personal safety zone" for the targets of the paparazzi.
Meanwhile, paparazzo Nick Stern quit his job in protest over aggressive" tactics employed in pursuing the troubled pop princess.
Stern resigned from the Los Angeles based, British owned Splash News and Picture Agency - and warned the hounding could kill the 26-year-old pop wreck.
"Directly or indirectly, Britney is going to come to some horrific end, or a member of the public will," he told Britain's Guardian newspaper. "It's not what's being done, it's the way it's being done. As she continues to deteriorate psychologically, I just can't see a positive way out."
Stern claims the biggest threat came from the high-speed convoy of photographers' cars and motorcycles that follow Spears' every move through Los Angeles. The pursuit reached a new frenzy in the early hours of yesterday when the paparazzi tailed an ambulance and police escort taking the 26-year-old singer to hospital for the second time this month.
"The paps are completely out of control," adds Stern, 43. "It's not unusual to have 20 or 30 cars pursuing her at any one time. It's become acceptable to drive at 80mph down the wrong side of the street into oncoming traffic. I was horrified at what goes on. It's so aggressive, there are fights and crashes and slashed tyres. I felt I needed to say something."
Spears, 26, is believed to be on a 51500 hold at the UCLA Medical Center - the second time in a month.
She reportedly arrived at the hospital at 2.15am but was not admitted until 4.15am because she was screaming and shouting at staff and her parents.
The fallen pop princess is also said to have accused mum Lynne of sleeping with her boyfriend, although she never said exactly who she was referring to.
She reportedly yelled: "The only reason she's admitting me is because she wants to be alone with her boyfriend.
"She wants to sleep with my boyfriend."
By Owen Williams, Feb 03 2008 © Copyright 2008 - Showbiz Spy
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