Michael Jackson's family arrives at Forest Lawn

The CHP temporarily shut down parts of the 405, 134 and 101 freeways for the procession.

The Jackson family will hold a private service at Forest Lawn before proceeding to Staples Center for the public service. Details of the Staples Center service, which was to begin at 10 a.m., were still emerging this morning.

LAPD Chief William J. Bratton said today Michael Jackson's body will be at Staples Center. It was unclear how his body would get from Forest Lawn to Staples.

At around 7 a.m., fans wearing gold and silver wristbands began streaming into an area around Staples Center that had been cordoned off by Los Angeles police. Approximately 17,500 tickets and wristbands to the event were distributed Monday through an online lottery system.

Those wearing gold wristbands were told that they would watch the event live in Staples Center; those with silver bands will watch a simulcast from the nearby Nokia Theatre.

Early this morning, sisters Yady Arreola, 24, and Lisa Acevedo, 19, held up their arms with their gold wristbands attached. The pair said they had been waiting since 1 a.m. Wearing matching white T-shirts that read "Forever Our King" next to an image of Jackson dancing, the women passed the time listening to Jackson's music in a parking lot with other fans who showed up early.

Acevedo called the chance to attend Jackson's memorial service "an experience ... I'm only going to be able to have once in a lifetime."

A clearly disappointed Erik Gomez, 18, received a silver wristband, sending him to Nokia Theatre. Gomez, dressed Jackson-like in tight pants, a black vest over a white shirt and gray fedora, said that he had picked up his tickets later in the day--which may have sealed his fate as one of the 6,500 people who would be watching the event on a simulcast from Nokia.

"If you arrived early at Dodger Stadium you got the gold wristband. If you got there late you got the silver one." "I'm OK," said the Lancaster resident, not sounding it at all. "I'm just happy to be one of the 17,000 picked. But I'm a little bit sad."

At an early morning briefing, top Los Angeles Police Department brass unveiled what they called an unprecedented response plan for Michael Jackson's funeral. LAPD Deputy Chief Earl Paysinger addressed several hundred supervisors at a 3 a.m. briefing in the gym of the Los Angeles Fire Academy.

He said deployment for past events, including the 1984 Olympics, "pale in comparison to what we have assembled today."

Some 3,200 officers are expected to be deployed during the memorials. He told them that with 1 billion people expected to watch the public memorial, "literally, the eyes of the entire world will be on this place."

Bratton also said today the department will move quickly to release officers from memorial-related duties if things go smoothly. A large part of that will depend on the size of the crowds.

"We really don't know what the size of the crowd will be," Bratton said. Planners prepared for the possibility of up to 1 million people, especially if the memorial was held at a large outdoor venue like the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. But a smaller, more restricted space like Staples, which will have limited access, could discourage crowds.

Still, the cost of policing the event, which will have the largest police deployment since the 1984 Olympics, could reach several million dollars. Bratton said he would like to reduce those costs as much as possible and one way was with a quick demobilization.

"This is not Monopoly money. These are real dollars," said Asst. Chief Earl Paysinger. "We evaluate the activity at the scene and try to make a smart decision as to whether or not we should keep officers on duty. We will begin to release them as the situation requires."

On Tuesday, the City of Los Angeles posted a plea on its website to Jackson fans, asking them to "help the City of Angels provide the extraordinary public safety resources required to give Michael the safe, orderly and respectful memorial he deserves."