BY GAIL EPSTEIN NIEVES

 John Brooks, a ranking Miami Police commander who became a lightning rod for
 controversy after helping federal agents seize Elian Gonzalez, is negotiating with
 the Broward County Sheriff's Office for a new job.

 His departure would make him the second to leave the top echelons of the
 department since the raid, which made him a particular target of Mayor Joe
 Carollo's criticism and angered many in Miami's Cuban-American community.

 ``I've been in discussions with the Broward Sheriff's Office, a fine organization,''
 Brooks said Tuesday. ``No decisions have been made as of yet.''

 BSO spokesman Jim Leljedal confirmed that Brooks submitted a formal
 application ``in the last few days'' after a period of ``informal talks'' between
 Brooks and sheriff's department brass. He said Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne is
 considering Brooks for at least two positions that he would not name, but sources
 said the sheriff wants to use Brooks to investigate organized crime.

 Brooks, a 25-year veteran, was named assistant chief for investigations by former
 Chief Donald Warshaw, who went on to become Miami city manager. Brooks has
 a reputation as an honest, hard-driving detail man who loves investigations and
 aspired to become a police chief somewhere. He works well with other law
 enforcement agencies, federal and state agents say, and helped restore the
 prestige of Miami's homicide squad with more money and personnel.

 In the police department's ranks, officers have talked openly for weeks about their
 expectations that Brooks would be following former Chief William O'Brien out the
 door because political pressure from City Hall could make it too hot to stay.
 Carollo has loudly criticized both men -- O'Brien because he didn't give the mayor
 advance warning of the April 22 raid, and Brooks because he accompanied federal
 agents in the van.

 Brooks' presence went against the mayor's pledge not to use Miami Police in the
 removal, but O'Brien said Brooks had to be there for safety reasons, so he could
 order Miami officers not to stand in the federal agents' way.

 Some officers see O'Brien and Brooks as casualties of ethnic politics, since
 neither man is Cuban-American. Neither is Warshaw, whom Carollo fired after the
 raid.

 Concern heightened last week, when respected homicide commander Lt. John
 Campbell, also not a Cuban American, was told he was being moved to the
 identification section to oversee the people who process fingerprints. His
 replacement is Israel Gonzalez, former executive assistant to O'Brien, who was
 demoted back to his civil service rank of lieutenant and lost about $13,000 in pay.

 Gonzalez, who was born in New York, is of Puerto Rican descent. Chief Raul
 Martinez replaced him with Angel Calzadilla, a Cuban-American officer.

 But Martinez, O'Brien's successor and the department's first Hispanic chief, said
 ethnic considerations played no role in the personnel moves. Martinez said he
 assured Brooks that Brooks would not be demoted or moved. He said Campbell
 was moved because he's preparing for retirement and it was time to train a new
 homicide commander. Gonzalez was moved because new chiefs get to pick their
 own executive assistants, he said.

 ``Nobody's being forced out from the police department,'' Martinez said. ``Brooks,
 if he leaves, is leaving of his own free will. And it was John Brooks who suggested
 where to put Gonzalez. So there's no `Cuban conspiracy.' ''

 Martinez said his 17-member command staff reflects Miami's racial makeup:
 seven Hispanics, six African Americans and four non-Hispanic whites.

 Brooks agreed that he is not being forced out by Martinez, whom he described as
 ``fair and totally professional.'' Brooks, who lives in Broward County, also
 acknowledged that he had talked with BSO ``informally'' about a job change
 before the Elian raid. He wouldn't say whether fallout over the raid convinced him
 to make the move sooner.

 ``Nothing's just because of the raid,'' he said.

 Warshaw said Sheriff Jenne called him about Brooks last week, and he gave
 Brooks a good recommendation.

 ``I told him he's got substantial experience in the intelligence area, he's a
 hard-working, dedicated career cop,'' Warshaw said.

 He said concerns about ethnic politics in the Miami Police Department are ``a
 song that's been played before,'' starting in the 1980s, when Miami had three
 black police chiefs: Clarence Dickson, Perry Anderson and Calvin Ross.

 ``There was a lot of talk back then that you had to be of a certain ethnic
 background to advance in the department, and I think that's been proven untrue,''
 Warshaw said. ``If you take the last six chiefs -- Dixon, Anderson, Ross, myself,
 O'Brien and Martinez -- that says the police department can be led by anybody
 as long as they have the skills.''

 Herald staff writer Charles Savage contributed to this report.

                     Copyright 2000 Miami Herald