South Florida Sun-Sentinel
MIAMI -- Police trampled civil rights and left this city living “under martial law” for a brief period during the Free Trade Area of the Americas conference, according to a draft report from a Miami-Dade County panel tasked with examining police conduct during the November meetings.
Though the panel’s main focus was the Miami-Dade Police Department, chairman Jorge Reynardus said the report is an evaluation of the more than 35 law enforcement agencies that monitored protests.
“It’s a comment on what we saw overall. And some of what we saw is shocking and deplorable,” Reynardus said.
The draft included strong language to criticize “the unrestrained and disproportionate use of force,” and offer “heartfelt apologies to the visitors who came to our city to peaceably voice their concerns, but who were met with closed fists instead of open arms.”
The full nine-member volunteer committee is now reviewing the draft released last week, though Reynardus said he does not expect its tone to change. He said he hopes the final version will be released in July.
Not all the panel’s findings were critical. The draft concluded “the vast majority of MDPD personnel performed their duty without incident and conducted themselves in a professional manner under trying circumstances.”
Nelda Fonticiella, a spokeswoman for the county police, said it was premature to comment on the report’s contents, which the department was still reviewing. The panel did not reserve its criticism for law enforcement officials.
Media coverage and police training emphasized the potential for anarchists to create turmoil, contributing “to a police mind-set to err, when in doubt, on the side of dramatic show of force to pre-empt violence” and avoid criticism for being too meek, read one of the draft’s findings.
The county review panel has no enforcement power and can only recommend policy changes.
“This is not the last time an event of this magnitude will happen in Miami,” Reynardus said. “If we don’t take a stand now, then we have ourselves to blame if this happens again.”
A similar panel is separately reviewing the actions of the Miami Police Department