KNBC writes:

"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 sufficent laws on the books that we enforce to deal with this issue," Bratton said, still sweaty from his workout and with a towel hanging around his neck.

"If you notice, since Britney started wearing clothes and behaving; Paris is out of town not bothering anybody, thank god; and, evidently, Lindsay Lohan has gone gay, we don't seem to have much of an issue.

"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 of it 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 later called a news conference outside police headquarters to clarify his position on the paparazzi.

When asked about the Lohan remark -- which followed months of tabloid speculation -- Bratton said his sister is gay and he is a huge proponent of gay rights. Bratton and his wife recently donated money to Equality California, a group that aims to block a ballot measure seeking to ban same-sex marriages.

The chief also took several jabs at Zine and said he was wrong that it cost $25,000 to take Spears to the hospital.

"There are currently on the books sufficient laws, rules and regulations," Bratton said. "(Zine) doesn't know what the hell he is talking about."

Last update: 01-29-2009 20:16