William Bratton, the head of the Los Angeles police department, dismissed propositions that “dangerous” paparazzi actions should controlled.Responding to proposals from local officials who claimed press photographers are uncontrollable, Bratton said the efforts are “a total waste of time.”

He said, “If the ones that attract the paparazzi behave in the first place, like we expect of anybody, that solves about 90% of the problem. The rest of it we can deal with.”

He joked that extra security is unnecessary as famous figures like Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton are out of the headlines.

Los Angeles City councilman Dennis Zine requested a meeting with officials from Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Malibu to discuss paparazzi problems. The assembly saw authorities suggest installing an emergency phone line for celebrities and licensing the paparazzi.

However, Bratton, who didn’t attend the meeting, threw out the suggestions calling for the creation of a safe and secure zone around celebrities.

He said, “What is this protected space that they are entitled to that the rest of us are not entitled to?”

He added that the photographers had “recently cooled their ways.”

Bratton stated, “Paris Hilton’s out of town, things are quiet. Lindsay Lohan’s got a new girlfriend, that’s keeping things quiet.

“And evidently Britney [Spears] has gone straight now in terms of cleaning her act up, so basically paparazzi are losing interest.”

The paparazzi have been accused of employing dangerous methods in pursuit of snapshots. Just recently, a group of surfers come to blows with photographers attempting to get shots of actor Matthew McConaughey in Malibu.

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