LAPD Officers Escort Britney Spears to Hospital

Los Angeles: Early this morning, officers from the Los Angeles Police Department’s (LAPD) North Hollywood Division helped facilitate medical transport of Britney Spears from her Studio City home to UCLA Medical Center in Westwood.

Due to previous, overly aggressive actions of some members of the media and in particular, members of the paparazzi, the Department utilized a number of resources to support the transport by Los Angeles Fire Department rescue ambulance of Ms. Spears in a safe manner that ensured not only her safety but that of the public and the media as well.

The LAPD, recognizing the intense media interest in certain high-profile individuals, will continue to enforce the law by citing those who commit infractions, including traffic violations.

Comments

[joellaann]

this is a complete waste of resources. please use your man power to help locate missing children.

[Mike]

Why us someone who is under the influence of drugs taken in on a 5150 hold? I thought that was only legal if you were not under the influence. Why wasnt she simply arrested for 11550 H&S and put in jail where she belongs? Or is it not just Paris Hilton that gets special treatment in LA County?

[Gina]

What an incredible waste of taxpayer dollars. The LAPD is constantly whining about how it's short of funds, yet it has money to shower on pampered so-called celebrities by prividing free security service that should be paid for by the celebs themselves. If Ms. Spears needed an escort to the hospital, her handlers should have hired them. This is an absolute disgrace.

[Not right]

Who cares, how about putting the article in about the Ferguson brothers conviction and the unnecessary statements made by Judge Fees. Makes you think about the timing of it (Disclosure)

How about the judges, doctors, lawyers etc who are caught doing unethical and criminal behavior, where is their oversight. No mention by him about Long Beach PD.

[ron]

I hope she gets charged for the escort. $25,000

[Taellik]

Thanks for wasting taxpayer's money! All that manpower and resources reallly helped with conducting proper law enforcement duties. You plan to submit a bill/invoice to the accountants of Spears, Inc. ? I'm sure they have the means to re-imburse expenses incurred.

[anonymous]

It's a shame when the dept can find the money/resources to escort someone who clearly has enough money to hire the people to do this, all the while patrol ofcrs are having to do without basic supplies because they're "not necessary." Just try to long on to any of the computers at the station...oh yeah, 3/4 of them don't work. Try to write a report, guess what? Print shop can't print any 'cause there's no funding. Try to write a report...if you can find any pens/pencils...can't have those, no money. Ofcrs are going out there everyday without proper and sometimes not even fuctioning equipment and they tell us that there's no money to replace/fix things. How about dipping into that secret "we'll escort the celebrity" fund and help out the ofcrs that are out everyday working their tails off to make sure everyone's safe. Don't go crying to the dept when you think an ofcr didn't to a thorough job. Chances are he/she doesn't have the resources or is getting pressure from their supvs to get off on time. Spending a little extra time on a call to get things done right isn't a priority for the brass, as you can see.

[Bertha]

I would like to see a copy of the bill she is sent for the 25,000 escort service, plus ambulance, transporation, etc. Just liek the one my mother got when she was taken 4 blocks....$6,000

[Morgaine]

How about saving some of this anger for the advertisers who sponsor TV programs which buy the paparazi's footage? Why not send the bill to the networks and let them pass it on? It seems churlish to be angry at a very sick young woman who continues to be victimized by the industry... Please take her drivers license and impound her cars before she is released. Remember, too, how much "the industry" glamorizes the LAPD...

[A]

What kind of escort did they provide? I would think it should be enough to have one or two police cars trailing the ambulance, just so they could pull over anyone following to closely and that's it.

[nhd]

It's so annoying how people refer to Brit's situation as an illness. Britney is not suffering from a mental thing, she's a drug addict. She is no different than the drug addicts you pick up off the street. Gosh, people really need to get a clue about what's really going on. I mean has anyone seen her skin lately?

[anonymous]

What I know is that after her divorce, she is not herself anymore. And to have her own kids taken away. Then there was the failure of her most recent show. I think the mass media has been very cruel to her. When she was in her peak of her popularity, everybody loved her. Did she do anything wrong to make herself popular ? Was she a spoiled brat ? Why should the mass media bring her down so badly ? The way they reported about her. That kind of report should be given when she was just a new entertainer. Not after she became successful. Does the mass media feel that somehow she owes her popularity to them and that she must always be that great and that she cannot fall ? In many ways, she is still given a very good service. She was more like a very wanted criminal when you all escorted her to the hospital. I think the problem is she thinks she still has that hold on her fans and her own family and when she sees that she has lost control, she just cannot take it and now she is losing control of herself too. I pity her. I remember her innocence as one of the Mickey Mouse Club singers. I didn't think that one day she would make it this big and lose it all this way. I hope that somehow she could get a grip of herself and of her life.

[foreigner]

I've found the public display of Ms Spears problems to be a disgrace. This is a societal problem and society is also responsible when a citizen is treated publicly as Ms Spears has been recently.

Good job! You did the right thing.

[Ed O'Shea]

Ron total cost for this incident was OVER $125,000.00! Good Job Chief! What a farce! Anyone else would have been put in cuffs and transported in the back of a black & white to Agustes Hawkins by "2" Officers or an Officer and a Mental health pro from Mental Evaluation Unit! But our obtuse leadership makes it into a freak show, just like Dr. Phil did! And it cost us $$$$$$$$! Typical!

[Gabe]

As I'm feeling a bit synchophantish today, I'll take up the LAPD's defense on this one.

It's not a waste of taxpayer dollars. If she's under the influence and a danger to others, she's a 5150 W & I, don't you agree? (I'm not sure what 11550 H & S is, but you don't usually arrest people for simply being under the influence unless they're operating a motor vehicle, I thought.)

So let's assume she's a proper 5150. She is who she is -- a big celeb with a trail of paparazzi, and that is not of the LAPD's making. If there is no LAPD "escort," then whatever vehicle takes her to Cedars-Sinai or wherever will be surrounded and hounded all the way to the hospital. There's a definite public safety risk. LAPD resources will wind up getting devoted to stopping the "chase" or citing the pursuers for traffic violations. Like it or not, there is also a risk to Britney. Yes, she is a celebrity, but she's also a human being and citizen of this city, and her status brings with it certain public safety risks that you and I don't have to deal with. She is entitled to safe transport to the hospital under a 5150 hold. I think the LAPD should be commended for giving it to her, and no she shouldn't be charged money for it. If LAPD does nothing and she's killed or hurt in a traffic collision, or if someone else is hurt or killed, you would be all over the department for not doing its job.

[been there]

I'm sorry but can someone explain how this is any different then the SLO's showing up and working the yearly toy give away at the Hollenbeck Youth Center? or the sidewalk sale down Cesar Chavez? Or the Mariachi Festival on Boyle? Who pays the salary for the SLO's and officers for those events? I'm sure the city is full of events where cops fill a role, I just happen to live or lived in Boyle Hieghts so I saw these things. The air support over head was way over the top and I think all of you should have good working equipment but I would still like to know how each unit or department in whole gets reimbursed for thier involvment at any and all community for profit events.

[?]

well first of all gabe, 11550 H&S is a person who is under the influence of narcotics. and yes it is a crime, not just when operating a motor veh. Many arrests are made under this "law".
if she was truely under the influence, ofcrs are not medically trained and are not able to transfer those even if they meet the criteria of a 5150 WIC/72-Hour Eval. Just one blk/wht is needed to accompany the RA to the hospital, then the hold is placed on the subject by hospital staff, not LAPD. We only complete holds for subjects without immediate medical conditions that require the attention from medical staff. I still dont see the reason why there needs to be a parade to the hospital.
and on a side note she signed AMA, against medical advice, forms to release herself from the hospital. its unfortunate for her kids. i think one should qualify mentally and financially to have children.

[Jack]

Gabe, if everything you said was true, then the LAPD could've saved a whole lot of money and had Ms. Spears medivac'd in one helicopter. The motorcade and two helicopters was excessive and extreme. Former US presidents don't even get that kind of protection.

This was a farce and fiasco and a grand waste of taxpayer dollars. The sad reality is that "stars" in LA are pampered and given special treatment, whether by the LAPD, the sheriff's department, the court system, even the DMV, you name it. This sort of abuse will continue as long as taxpayers remain silent and continue to give blank checks to city "leaders," as they did with the recent phone tax hike.

The LAPD does deserve credit for publishing public comments about these matters, both pro and con, on this website. Perhaps that will help to shape the brass's thinking the next time it decides to waste taxpayer dollars while pampering some star. People only have so much patience, as Prop 13 demonstrated, so at some point if nonsense like this continues, the taxpayers may say enough is enough and begin to reform the system.

[southend P-3]

why is this story even on here? are we the new TMZ? Who gives a crap? why dont the monitors of this thing put stories on here that actually matter.

[Ian]

Thanks for wasting our tax dollars, and thanks to LA city fire (LAFD) for giving special treatment to a celebrity. The county of Los Angeles facilitates transportation of those placed on a 5150 hold by its contracts with private ambulance providers. Everyone else is transported by private ambulance, so why should my money go to taking a 911 Fire unit out of service to facilitate an interfacility transport of a celebrity? Additionally, it is a violation of County EMS policy and state law to transport a stable patient "Code 3". This is an absolute disgrace. Everyday I go out to pick up 5150s from their residences and this is routine non-emergency stuff here.