Facing overwhelming demand for tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service, officials are warning those who do not win seats for Tuesday morning's Staples Center event to stay away as police plan a massive deployment around the downtown arena.
A total of 17,500 free tickets will be distributed to people selected at random from among those who register by 6 p.m. today at www.staplescenter.com.
So many people tried to register for the lottery that the website's server briefly crashed Friday morning as the ticketing process was announced. More than 500,000 people had registered for the lottery by Friday evening, a spokesman for the Jackson family said.
Seeking to discourage massive throngs, officials said that there would be no funeral procession and that no one would be allowed inside a large area around Staples unless they had a ticket and a wristband, a media credential or could prove they live or work there.
"You must have a ticket to be admitted to the venue," Los Angeles Police Department Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said at a news conference outside Staples Center attended by journalists from around the globe. "There's no way to get to this venue if you don't have a ticket."
The restricted area is bounded by Flower Street on the east, Olympic Boulevard on the north, Pico Boulevard to the south and Blaine Street to the west.
The memorial will be staged in a "safe and calm manner," L.A. City Councilwoman Jan Perry said. "That should ease the potential burden enormously" for taxpayers, she added.
Perry said the extra police deployment will be paid for out of an LAPD fund reserved for overtime costs of special events such as "1st Amendment marches, protests and funerals and other special events large in scope and that have a potential to impact public safety."
Because the fiscal year started July 1, the fund for all police overtime -- which according to one source covers 1.6 million hours, or nearly $90 million -- is flush. But some city officials questioned the wisdom of spending possibly more than $1 million in overtime funds so early in the fiscal year, noting that the city could find itself cash-strapped later in the event of a fire, earthquake or other major disaster.
"Do we want to blow our money at the first week of the fiscal year?" asked Police Administrator Rhonda Sims-Lewis. "No. We would prefer to get some reimbursement. That would mean we would be prepared as we go through the rest of the year. I believe they are working on trying to work this whole thing out. I hope it gets worked out."
