the Boston Globe on 8/9/2001, page A14 

By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, 8/9/2001

 The admissions are likely to fuel accusations of police brutality that have poured in from Europe and elsewhere, embarrassing the new government of Premier Silvio Berlusconi and raising questions about how future summits can be controlled. 

 In his first appearance before a parliamentary fact-finding committee, Chief Gianni De Gennaro told lawmakers that efforts before the July 20-22 summit to weed out violent anarchists and prevent them from reaching the Genoa meeting were ''below expectations.'' 

 Once the summit began, he said, ''the warlike conditions created by violent criminals led in some cases to an excess in the use of force from some units.'' 

 Police were unable to quell riots during the G-8 meeting, which saw the first death of an anti-globalization protester, more than 200 injured, 240 people detained, and millions of dollars in damage. Dozens of protesters remain in jail pending hearings, including at least four Americans and 16 members of an Austrian theater group who police say were conspiring to destroy the city. 

 In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that three Americans were injured during the protests and 10 others were arrested. Six of those detained were later released, he said. 

 Boucher would not comment on allegations of excessive force and said consular officials have visited the detainees. 

 De Gennaro promised to take disciplinary action against any officer found to have taken part in ''unlawful behavior'' during the meeting. ''There will be no reticence,'' he said. 

 Yesterday, the Interior Ministry completed its investigation and recommended nine officers be disciplined for two of the most controversial episodes at Genoa: the pre-dawn police raid at a school housing protesters, and the treatment of demonstrators detained at the Bolzaneto police garrison. 

 Protesters in Italy - as well as Britain, France, Germany, and elsewhere - have claimed they were beaten up by police, strip-searched and denied food, phone calls, or access to their consulates after their arrests. 

 De Gennaro said he wanted to wait for all the investigations - including at least eight separate ones by Genoa prosecutors - to finish before he makes a final assessment of what went wrong. 

 But he said he couldn't rule out the possibility that some police were responsible for ''illicit behavior'' at the Bolzaneto police garrison. Protesters claim they were mistreated and in some cases beaten while in police custody. 

 Three top law enforcement officials, including De Gennaro's deputy and the superintendent of Genoa police, were removed from their posts by the government last week.