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Plan of attack
Miami citizens panel moves to force police chief to release plan for handling FTAA protests.
by Steve Ellman, Daily Business Review
June 17th, 2004
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The Miami Civilian Investigative Panel has voted to go to court to
force Miami Police Chief John Timoney to release a copy of the secret
security operations plan used during last fall’s Free Trade Area of the
Americas conference.
In a unanimous vote late Tuesday, the panel authorized its independent co-counsel, Miami attorneys David Finger and Jay Levine, to seek a court order to compel Timoney to turn over a copy of the operations plan.
The
Police Department has argued that the plan is exempt from disclosure
under state public records law, which shields “any comprehensive
policies or plans compiled by a criminal justice agency pertaining to
the mobilization, deployment or tactical operations involved in
responding to emergencies.”
The controversial security operations
plan was devised by the Miami Police Department as lead agency in a
coalition of 44 law enforcement agencies that provided security for the
hemispheric trade conference. The plan outlined the coalition’s
staffing, logistics, strategy and tactical options for police in a
variety of emergency situations.
Critics of the plan say it is a
blueprint for suppression utilizing overwhelming force and mass, illegal
arrests, and serves as a national model for controlling protests.
Supporters say it is merely a variation of longstanding police plans for
emergencies, and an appropriate response to dealing with violent
radicals hiding behind labor unions and other legitimate protest groups.
CIP
members and attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union say
examination of the plan is critical to their investigations of alleged
police abuses during the FTAA conference, as well as the prosecution of a
number of civil lawsuits focusing on the alleged police misconduct.
But
police officials and their lawyers say disclosure of the FTAA security
operations plan would jeopardize law enforcement efforts during future
protest events around the country, as well as future emergency
situations and terrorist threats.
The CIP — created by Miami voters in a November 2001 ballot initiative to monitor police conduct — formally requested copies of the plan in letters to Miami police on April 12, April 22, May 4 and June 4.
CIP
members question the Police Department’s invocation of national
security to keep the FTAA operations plan secret. In discussions
preceding Tuesday’s vote, several members expressed amazement that
police officials were claiming that even portions of the plan concerning
training on First Amendment issues were too sensitive to disclose.
Calls to police officials for comment were not returned.
In
a June 4 letter to Timoney, CIP member Brenda Shapiro, an attorney who
chairs the panel’s subcommittee on police policies and procedures at the
FTAA, suggested alternative means for inspecting the plan. Her proposed
alternatives include having the city provide a redacted version of the
plan, and having CIP members review the plan in an executive session
closed to the public.
The Miami police have not responded to Shapiro’s letter.
On
the advice of its lawyers, the CIP chose not to use its subpoena power
to obtain the plan. They were advised that a subpoena might start the
clock on the 120-day limit on CIP investigations, established by the
2002 city ordinance creating the CIP.
Finger and Levine assured
the panel that a request for a court order would not trigger the time
limit. Under the writ of mandamus, a judge will privately inspect the
FTAA operations plan and decide whether it is, in fact, exempt from
disclosure under state public records law.
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