TRIAL TO BEGIN FOR 11 MIAMI OFFICERS

Accused In Coverups Of Shootings That Left Three Men Dead

MIAMI - The late 1990s in Miami was marked by high violent crime rates,
with street gangs that stalked tourists, but prosecutors say the violence
also included acts committed by the police.

Based on information from two retired officers who pleaded guilty to
conspiracy in September 2001, 11 other officers were indicted on federal
corruption charges alleging coverups in four police shootings in which
three men were killed.

The 11 were scheduled to go on trial today on charges of planting guns,
manipulating evidence, or covering up crimes by others. The two who pleaded
guilty are to be the prosecution's star witnesses.

The case involved the city's worst police scandal since the 1980s, when the
"Miami River Cops" stole cocaine from drug traffickers and sold the drug
themselves. More than 100 officers were arrested, fired, or disciplined in
that case.

"The history of Miami has been characterized by ugly police-community
relations," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil
Liberties Union of Florida. "There is a loss of confidence, if not outright
hostility, by the minority community because of the great number of
shootings of typically unarmed black young men."

Miami is not alone.

In Los Angeles, about 100 criminal cases were overturned after
investigators heard allegations of police abuses - including evidence
tampering, unjustified shootings, and thefts - in the police department's
Rampart Division.

Police shootings in New York City have declined markedly but have been
highlighted by cases such as the 1999 death of immigrant Amadou Diallo,
shot 19 times by four white officers when he reached for his wallet.

The four Miami shootings involved the killings of three black men. A fourth
man was wounded, and another man involved in the shooting was not harmed.

In all of the cases, prosecutors say, guns were planted to make it look as
though the three robbery suspects, a drug suspect, and a homeess man were
armed.

A lawyer for two of the indicted officers said the shootings were
justified. "The justifiable use of force and deadly force laws have been in
existence for years," said Richard Sharpstein. "All of these shootings were
well within those parameters."

The federal trial is expected to last three to five months. No state
charges were filed.

In the past, police killings in Miami have intensified already strained
race relations in a city beset by political corruption and economic woes.
The deaths of black and Hispanic men and the subsequent acquittals of
officers triggered riots or smaller street clashes six times from 1980 to 1995.

Voters have approved a civilian oversight board for the police, and members
are about to be appointed.

Police Chief Raul Martinez created stricter procedures for the use of
deadly force by officers, allowing them to fire their weapons only when
facing an imminent deadly threat, but some community leaders said he didn't
go far enough.

Martinez resigned in November, and a former Philadelphia police
commissioner, John Timoney, took over the department.

Brad Brown, president of the Miami-Dade County chapter of the NAACP, said
some officers think they are above the law.