MIAMI -- Miami Mayor Manny Diaz called it a model for homeland security. Trade officials praised it as extraordinary. Police said it was a necessary show of force.

The law enforcement muscle exhibited on the streets of downtown Miami for the Free Trade Area of the Americas summit was certainly unprecedented. It remains to be seen whether this could become the model for other cities whenever they expect any type of dissent, be it a trade summit, a political convention or a war protest.

About 2,500 officers from 40 departments flooded the streets for the weeklong FTAA conference. Police Chief John Timoney told citizens the police presence was necessary in the wake of violent demonstrations at other trade summits in Seattle, Cancun and elsewhere. Security fences cut up downtown like a jigsaw puzzle, with numerous checkpoints. Hidden cameras were placed throughout the city. Officers wore full riot gear and used rubber bullets, concussion grenades and tear gas on protesters.

At least three officers and 12 demonstrators were treated at hospitals Thursday, and at least 125 demonstrators were treated by medics affiliated with protest organizations.

By Friday, there had been about 200 arrests -- far less than the 570 during the Seattle protests in 1999.

The American Civil Liberties Union said it had received 100 complaints from protesters -- who ranged from anarchists and college students to union steelworkers and retired senior citizens -- claiming their civil rights were breached by the massive use of force.

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the San Francisco-based Global Exchange, said the mayor's comment that Miami should be a model for homeland security is particularly ominous.

"When you convince people that a militarized society is in their best interest, then we are going down a slippery slope toward a police state," she said.

Miamians were split on how their city was transformed.

"The city and the government of Miami is handling this perfectly," said pilot Mark Morgan, who traveled downtown Friday to a buy a cellphone charger. "They're doing exactly the right thing."

But Michelle Howe, a child welfare worker, said she was appalled Friday when she watched riot police arrest about 20 demonstrators who were trying to disperse following a demonstration at the county jail. "I think it's disgusting the way they have to bring out all this law enforcement people," she said. "This is awful."

FTAA officials said Miami showed the world that it could handle security and, as a result, bolstered the city's chances to land the trade pact's headquarters, which they say will bring 89,254 jobs statewide and a $13.6 billion boost to the economy.

Luis Lauredo, executive director of Miami FTAA, said Friday that officers created "a security envelope designed with tolerance" and did an "extraordinary job."

"It was necessary. That's why we didn't have an incident," Lauredo said. "If the press or anybody else has a complaint about the police department, tell them to come see me."

Charles Cobb, chairman of Florida FTAA Inc., said Miami showed the world that it can be a model for how to handle security for big political events. "There was unprecedented cooperation between state, city and federal law enforcement. Even the Coast Guard. They had information there was going to be an attack by water."

He said $15 million was spent on the FTAA and about $10 million of that went to security. The federal government ponied up $8.5 million courtesy of a rider in an appropriations bill to pay for the war in Iraq.

Protesters said they felt they were being treated as terrorists.

"Miami is a microcosm of what is happening to protests worldwide," demonstrator Brenna Bell said Friday. She was later arrested as she left with a group of protesters following a 200-person demonstration at the Miami-Dade County jail, where other protesters arrested Thursday were being held.

Bell was walking with a group of about 25 protesters, chanting "we are dispersing" when police in riot gear surrounded them and pushed them against a fence, which gave way. Police said the group did not disperse fast enough.

"Nationwide, police beforehand are making preemptive arrests. The level of oppression has been so great," said protester Ryan Smith of Minneapolis. "They are using that to keep people from demonstrating or voicing an opinion."

But Chief Timoney said his officers acted with restraint and professionalism, giving protesters ample verbal warnings before using any force.

He said that when police tried Thursday to disperse a group of protesters in the downtown area, demonstrators threw water bottles and other projectiles at officers, set fires in the street and used slingshots to fire marbles and other hard objects.

"If we didn't act when we did, it would've been worse," Timoney said.

The ACLU was investigating whether police officers violated Fourth Amendment rights against illegal searches by stopping people at random, frisking them and dumping the contents of their backpacks into gutters, said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, president of the ACLU's South Florida chapter.

"We have many, many reports of people whose property was destroyed by police," Rodriguez-Taseff said. "It was a wholesale suspension of the Fourth Amendment."

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