LAWRENCE - The American Civil Liberties Union is supporting a group of Lawrence residents who claim there have been too many instances of police brutality in the city.

Persio Acevedo, who said he believes he was harassed by police, is among 10 residents who have formed a task force and sent a letter to police Chief John Romero asking him for a meeting on the subject.

Romero said he will meet with the group, but also said police brutality is not a problem here.

"Just because I'm willing to meet with him doesn't mean I share his opinion about what's going on," Romero said.

But Acevedo said, based on his experience, there is plenty going on. Acevedo was arrested last August after police said he resisted a parking ticket and tried to run over a traffic control officer with his car.

In February, a judge found Acevedo not guilty of the charges of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault and battery and disorderly conduct.

"It was proved. I was not guilty. I was innocent," Acevedo said. "Some people heard about what happened to me and they called me. And they said, 'This thing happened to me. They abused me. They hit me.' And I said 'You know, something is wrong here. We have to do something.'"

With the task force - officially the Lawrence Community Task Force of ACLU of Massachusetts - Acevedo wants to prevent similar incidents.

"We have the best intention to work with the police to help them find solutions," Acevedo said. "We don't have all the answers. We would like them to find out what is going on."

The letter to Romero was written by Angel Rivera, a member of the task force.

"We are not a 'go-after-the-police' task force, nor are we a group of 'police-haters,'" Rivera wrote in the letter. "Rather, we are a group of concerned, law-abiding individuals that envisions our Police Department to soon be the best of the country."

"I consider it one of the best in the country right now," Romero said, adding the Police Department is already "transparent" with internal investigations of police brutality claims and is willing to take action against officers when a claim is verified.

"The complaints are very few regarding police brutality," Romero said. "Almost without exception, every police officer in this department works very hard for the residents of the city."

'Police brutality' has been a buzz phrase in Lawrence for much of 2007. An April meeting with ACLU lawyers and a field organizer gave residents an opportunity to sound off about grievances against the police.

And last month, a judge dropped charges against two Lawrence brothers who claimed to be beaten by Officer Kyle Wilcox. The charges were dismissed on a technicality - the failure of prosecutors to provide Moises and Rubenito Fernandez's attorney with key documents made a fair trial impossible, the judge said - but the brothers have now asked a clerk magistrate to have Wilcox face criminal assault charges.

Wilcox faces a 30-day suspension after an internal police investigation stopped short of saying he assaulted Moises Fernandez, but did find Wilcox did not protect Fernandez when he was in police custody. Wilcox has appealed that suspension.

The ACLU of Massachusetts will have some involvement in the task force. Brian Corr, a field organizer for the ACLU, said employees will help members of the task force learn how to file police complaints and document incidents. There also will be public education work to help people know "how to behave in a way to ensure their safety and to make sure police feel safe," Corr said.

Lawyers from the ACLU may join the meeting - as yet unscheduled - between Romero and the task force.

"I think it really depends on what the task force wants to do, what the Police Department wants to do and what the issues are," Corr said.