Depending on the city official, the testimony of singer John Mayer and actors Milo Ventimiglia and Eric Roberts at Los Angeles City Hall on Thursday was either a courageous stand against the dangerous tactics of the paparazzi or a foolish waste of time.
The performers were the first speakers at the inaugural meeting of a task force of elected officials, law enforcement leaders and others investigating ways to regulate what they described as an aggressive new breed of tabloid photographers.
But before the celebrity witnesses could utter a single word about paparazzi car chases or sidewalk encampments, Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton had tracked down a camera crew of his own and dismissed the task force as a farce.
"If you notice, since Britney started wearing clothes, Paris is out of town and not bothering anybody anymore, thank God, and evidently Lindsay Lohan has gone gay, we don't seem to have much of an issue," Bratton told a reporter for KNBC-TV Channel 4.
The chief interrupted his morning workout to tell the station that existing laws were sufficient to control the paparazzi and that 90% of the problem was caused by misbehaving stars.
He also accused Councilman Dennis P. Zine, who convened the task force, of grandstanding.
Zine carried on with the hearing, insisting the chief was wrong and that current penalties for traffic violations and misdemeanors were not sufficient.
"They act like a pack of wolves, stalking their prey," he told the task force. "What we're trying to do is prevent a tragedy from happening."
Later, Zine asked the mayor and the Police Commission to investigate Bratton's comments. He cited the assessment of Lohan's sexual orientation as particularly inappropriate. A police officer who said similar things would be investigated and possibly disciplined, Zine charged.
"I am just absolutely shocked at his obstinacy. We are trying to do something positive," Zine said.
Bratton brushed off suggestions that his remarks were insensitive. He said that he had a long record of supporting gay rights and noted that his sister is a lesbian.
He called a news conference during Zine's hearing to provide reporters with a list of more than 40 state and local laws that already deal with aggressive photographers.
Bratton ridiculed efforts under discussion in the hearing to register paparazzi as "like trying to herd cats."
