13 MIAMI COPS CHARGED

MIAMI - In the city's worst police scandal since the days of "Miami
Vice," 13 current and former officers were accused by federal
prosecutors Friday of planting guns, lying to investigators and
otherwise trying to cover up four shootings in which three people died.

In one of the shootings, a SWAT team fired 123 bullets into an
apartment during a 1996 drug raid and then lied about finding a gun in
the hand of the dead 73-year-old man inside, the FBI said.

The investigation also involved the deaths of two young black men who
were shot in the back by officers after stealing purses on a highway
ramp.

All of those charged were veterans assigned to SWAT teams, narcotics
units or special crime-suppression teams in the late 1990s.

Prosecutors said that in at least three cases, police planted guns at
the scene to justify shootings by officers.

"These officers put a stain on the badge of every hardworking, honest,
faithful, honorable police office who puts his or her life on the line
every single day," U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis said.

Lewis said the officers "planted weapons, they lied about their roles
in the shootings, they lied about what they saw, they falsified
reports, they tampered with crime scenes."

He also said the officers stole money, guns and other property from
people in unrelated cases and later planted the weapons at
police-involved shootings.

Eleven officers were arrested Friday on an indictment charging them in
a plot to obstruct justice and violate civil rights.

Two retired officers pleaded guilty to conspiracy earlier this week
and are cooperating with investigators.

"This is painful, but this is something we have to go through to get
better," Police Chief Raul Martinez said.

All but one of the 11 indicted officers were freed on $100,000 bail.
If convicted, they face five to 25 years in prison.

The case is smaller than the 1980s "Miami River Cops" scandal in which
uniformed officers stole cocaine from drug traffickers and sold the
drug themselves. Three drug boat guards drowned when they jumped into
the Miami River to avoid the gang, an episode that gave the ring its
name. Eventually, more than 100 Miami officers were arrested, fired or
disciplined.

The latest arrests expanded on a March indictment charging five Miami
SWAT officers with conspiracy to obstruct justice for allegedly lying
to investigators after the deadly 1996 drug raid. The city settled a
lawsuit with the man's family for $2.5 million last year.

The investigation also included the police shooting of a homeless man,
who was wounded in the leg. Officers said he was holding a weapon to
the head of a friend, but it turned out to be a small radio.

"Make no mistake. This circle of officers is not yet closed," said
Hector Pesquera, the FBI chief in Miami. "Time is running out for
those who have not come forward with the truth."

Relations between police and the public have been delicate in Miami
for years.

Riots erupted four times in the past two decades after police shot a
black man or officers involved in a shooting were cleared.

Police officials on Friday asked the U.S. Justice Department for a
review of departmental procedures.