'Crime rates have gone down since Britney put her clothes on and Paris left town,' says LAPD chief
Los Angeles' police chief today insisted paparazzi-related crime had gone down in recent months due to the behaviour of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.
LAPD Chief William Bratton blamed the formerly troubled trio for previous paparazzi drama, which has resulted in numerous lawsuits between the stars and photographers.
Bratton is opposed to a proposal by Councillor Dennis Zine to enforce a 'personal safety zone' between celebrities and photographers.
Speaking at a televised press conference today, Bratton said: 'If you notice, since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving; Paris is out of town not bothering anybody any more, thank God, and evidently, Lindsay Lohan has gone gay, we don't seem to have much of an issue.'
Drama queens: The paparazzi are less interested in 'out of town' Paris Hilton, 'behaving' Britney Spears and 'gone gay' Lindsay Lohan, according to Bratton
After becoming regular targets of the paparazzi last year, the three young stars appeared to have quietened down in recent months.
Socialite Hilton, who served prison time for drink driving last year, has been of less interest to photographers since she started dating Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden.
After a tumultuous two years involving public meltdowns and custody battles with her ex-husband, Spears has been spending more time at home with her father and children.
Laying the blame: LAPD Chief William Bratton insists misbehaving celebrities are responsible for the majority of paparazzi issues
Actress Lohan, who spent time in rehab in 2007, has settled down and embarked on a lesbian relationship with DJ Samantha Ronson.
The police chief insists his force can cope with a majority of paparazzi incidents and a majority of the celebrities involved in previous incidents are the ones who actively seek it.
He continued: 'If the ones that attract the paparazzi behave in the first place, like we expect of anybody, that solves about 90 percent of the problem. The rest we can deal with.
'So as far as all this grandstanding and foolishness, waste of city time on this issue and the fact that I felt aggravated enough about it to interrupt my workout to come over and set the record straight, LAPD has no intention of participating in this farce.'
Bratton decided to halt his morning gym work out to visit newsman Robert Kovacik during the live 6am broadcast on KNBC-TV after growing incensed watching Zine's discussing putting restrictions on freelance photographers.
He said: 'I figured I'd come over and straighten out - we have no intention of participating in today's hearing. It's a total waste of time. We have sufficient laws on the books that we enforce to deal with this issue.'
Zine has cited the $25,000 police bill for dealing with a throng of paparazzi outside Spears' home in January when the singer was escorted out of her home for psychiatric evaluation following a four-hour stand off with police.
Prior to the hearing, Zine criticised the 'aggressive' paparazzi: 'They act like a pack of wolves, stalking their prey. What we're trying to do is prevent a tragedy from happening.
'The penalties are not harsh enough to deter the paparazzi.'
