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The Miami Police Department, facing
allegations of brutality and civil rights violations at the now-infamous
trade summit protest, went on the defensive Thursday -- saying the
agency followed the rules and did not break any laws.
''Collectively, the operation was a
success,'' Deputy Chief Frank Fernandez said during a presentation
before the city's Civilian Investigative Panel, which is investigating
whether the department used excessive force or violated free speech
during demonstrations against the Free Trade Area of the Americas in
November.
The mood in the chamber was often
testy, as the presentation drew chuckles and heckling from dozens of
antiglobalization protesters who sat through the 3 ½-hour testimony at
Miami City Hall.
Fernandez, Chief John Timoney and a
few officers who were at the protests defended the department against
allegations of heavy-handed tactics, saying officers used force only
when necessary to protect themselves against violent protesters.
They presented a 40-minute video that
showed police defending themselves from angry protesters in Miami and
elsewhere, saying the images showed the reason for such a heavy police
presence, which critics have called a ``police state.''
''No, we don't think it was a police
state,'' Fernandez said. ``We took the appropriate measures, and reduced
[police presence] when we felt it was necessary.''
A FEW LESSONS
But officers did say that they
learned a few lessons. Timoney even apologized for a statement
attributed to him in a Herald report that he ''did not remember''
making. Timoney was quoted as using profanity to protesters while
patrolling the city on a bicycle.
''I don't remember saying the words
that I allegedly said,'' Timoney said. ``But be that as it may, if I
did, I shouldn't have. It's unprofessional. There is no place, even in
heat of battle, to say stuff like that.''
Even though the chief was contrite at
that point, he became angry when one of the CIP members asked him if
any officers who did not follow proper protocol would be disciplined.
At that point, Timoney went up to the
microphone and said that all disciplinary action had been taken by the
department. The internal affairs office has investigated two complaints
filed by the department, as well as media reports alleging brutality.
''You do your investigation,'' Timoney said. ``You have 11 complaints. We had two.''
Following one of those complaints,
Fernandez said, the department compensated a protester for a bicycle.
The other is still under investigation.
The presentation followed last
month's public hearing, where people were allowed to express concerns
about how the department handled the protests. Thursday, only police
officers from the department were allowed to give testimony.
A `WHITEWASH'
Civil libertarians called the presentation a ``police whitewash.''
''The report by the police department was either corruption or incompetence,'' said Naomi Archer, spokeswoman for the Save
Our Civil Liberties Campaign, a coalition of civil rights groups formed
after the FTAA meeting. ``It was either a coverup or incompetence,
because they do not have the ability to realize what was going on out
there.''
CITY ORDINANCE
Police officers also defended a city ordinance that limited what people could take to a city rally.
Earlier in the day, The Associated
Prss reported, anti-free-trade activists challenged the
constitutionality of the ordinance in federal court. U.S. District Judge
Donald Graham gave the city 30 days to respond to the issues raised.
Only one FTAA protester was arrested
under the ordinance, according to Assistant City Attorney George Wysong,
who said the charge was likely dropped.
But civil libertarians argue that
people arrested on other charges related to the ordinance could
challenge their arrests if the law is deemed unconstitutional.
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