Panel says police were unprepared

 BY CHARLES RABIN

 A special citizens committee formed to investigate Miami Police action against
 protesters during the Elián González case has found the police department was
 not prepared for the demonstrations in January and April and lacked a functional
 chain of command.

 The Elián González Ad Hoc Committee also recommended in a report completed
 Monday that no elected city official should ever interfere with police at a
 disturbance -- a reference to City Commissioner Tomás Regalado's role in the
 Jan. 6 demonstration, when Miami Police Capt. Tony F. Rodriguez accused the
 commissioner of inciting the crowd and obstructing a police officer.

 Ironically, it was Regalado who spearheaded the move to form the committee after
 a confrontation between his supporters and Miami Police at City Hall.

 Regalado charged that the police used unnecessary force in arresting protesters.

 The six-member group -- made up of an appointee from each commissioner and
 Miami Police Chief Raul Martinez -- will meet with Martinez on Monday before it
 passes its recommendations to Miami city commissioners.

 The recommendations comment on both the January disturbances and the April
 protests that broke out after federal agents seized Elián from great-uncle Lázaro
 González's Little Havana home in the early morning hours of April 22.

 The day was marked by hundreds of confrontations between protesters upset with
 the way the young boy was removed from the home and squads of riot police,
 who the report say at times indiscriminately tossed cans of chemical agents into
 the streets to clear them.

 The melee resulted in hundreds of arrests but relatively little property damage --
 mostly the burning of tires in the middle of Flagler Street between Southwest 17th
 and 57th avenues, and the burning of garbage bins.

 ``It doesn't seem the department was adequately prepared, information-wise, as
 to the locations and size of the crowds,'' committee member Alberto Milián said.

 Most of the arrested in January and April have since had charges dropped.

 Committee Chairman Andrew Rosenblatt said the committee determined after
 interviewing dozens of witnesses and police personnel that clear channels of
 communications were not properly followed.

 ``There was evidence presented indicating police officers and field forces were
 operating under different rules of engagement,'' he said. ``There was not
 satisfactory communication between officers and the street and command staff.''

 Among the committee's 24 recommendations:

   The police department needs a proactive plan to respond to politically driven
 demonstrations.

   The department needs a system with managerial coordination and direction,
 with a chain of command that has clear goals and objectives.

   The department should design clear rules for the use of chemical agents.

   No elected city official should ever interfere with police officers at the scene of a
 disturbance.

 The last recommendation, proposed by Milián, addresses concerns that Regalado
 may not have been acting as a peacemaker that January evening.

 Shortly after the disturbance, an aide of Miami Mayor Joe Carollo supplied
 videotaped footage of Regalado to authorities. Regalado and Carollo are foes.

 Reached Tuesday, Regalado scoffed at that section of the report that cites
 interference.

 ``I think elected officials should get involved. It's our responsibility to try and
 maintain the peace,'' he said. ``And what does interfere mean? When they let me
 know, I'll tell you if I agree.''

 Ad Hoc Committee member Jose ``Pepe'' Herrera said the police department
 overreacted in many instances during the April blowups. Herrera is Regalado's
 appointee.

 ``When we have something as emotionally charged as this, I think that the level of
 tolerance [by the police] that should be deployed, should be no different than if
 the Miami Dolphins won the Super Bowl or the Florida Marlins won the World
 Series,'' Herrera said.

 The report follows the June release of an internal report by the police department
 that absolved it of blame but found officers could have handled both street
 disturbances better.

 Milián suggested that the department use television news and all other available
 information to help it monitor disturbances in the future.