Hundreds of Thousands of Ticketless Fans Plan to Descend on LA

July 4, 2009 by Richie Berges

The LAPD get prepared Los Angeles Police and Security Chiefs have confirmed their fears that there will not be enough staff for crowd-control purposes for the Michael Jackson memorial event to be held at the Staples Center in LA this coming Tuesday.

The news comes as hundreds of thousands of fans plan to descend on the city to pay their respects to the superstar. This comes as thousands get set to be disappointed as there are only 17,500 tickets available – and some of them are not even going to be in the Theatre itself.

The temporary Mayor of LA is urging fans to stay away from the area to allow a safe and peaceful event to take place.

Meanwhile, fans in the UK are becoming increasingly angry that the lottery system established for fans who wanted tickets to the memorial was only open to residents who live in the US.

The LAPD have revealed that they want the organisers of Jackson’s sell-out tour in London (and who are also organising the upcoming memorial) to cover the costs of crowd control in the area. There are fears that the costs could run into hundreds of millions of dollars. What’s more, the lack of notice (five days, according to media sources quoting the police) indicate that the forces will not be ready in time to accomodate the influx of fans.

A person who worked on the council let off a scathing attack at the people who are planning the memorials, saying: “If the Jackson family’s gonna spend $25,000 on a gold casket, I would think that AEG and the Jackson family could help defray the costs so it’s a safe and secure environment for mourners that want to come.”

Michael Jackson performs We will keep you posted here on woodenspears.com as to what happens at the memorial and whether any crowd-control issues come to light.