The Miami Police Department has created a program that should keep citizens aware of the possibility of terrorist acts being perpetrated in their city, inspire vigilance and make things just a little bit hotter for any terrorists planning any operations there.

MIAMI - City police will attempt to thwart terrorists by staging random, “in-your-face” security operations at so-called “soft” targets ranging from city buses to sports arenas, officials announced Monday.

The idea behind the “Miami Shield” program is to make such targets less attractive to terrorists and improve vigilance among Miami residents. Deputy Police Chief Frank Fernandez said al-Qaida and other terror groups carefully plot their attacks based in part on surveillance that identifies flaws and patterns in security.

Random, high-profile security operations will keep terrorists guessing about where police might be next, he said. For example, a group of officers might surround a downtown bank building, checking the identification of each person going in and out and handing out leaflets about terror threats.

“This is an in-your-face type of strategy. It’s letting the terrorists know we are out there,” Fernandez said.

What amazes yours truly is that the ACLU actually says they find no grounds for mounting one of their usual pit-bull legal attacks on the program. Hmmm…

Some police counterterrorism actions around the country have sparked debate about their constitutionality. The American Civil Liberties Union has filed one lawsuit in New York to challenge random searches of the bags of subway riders; a federal appeals court has halted pat-down searches at the stadium in Tampa where the NFL’s Buccaneers play after another ACLU lawsuit.

Howard Simon, executive director of ACLU of Florida, said the Miami initiative as announced appears aimed at ensuring people’s rights are not violated.

“What we’re dealing with is officers on street patrol, which is more effective and more consistent with the Constitution,” Simon said. “We’ll have to see how it is implemented.”

Give ‘em time, they’ll find something, especially if the program seems to be enjoying any kind of success over the long haul, since what’s good for America is not good for the ACLU, and vice versa.

Fernandez said Miami officials want people to take notice of the beefed-up security so they are reminded that the threat from al-Qaida and its sympathizers has not disappeared.

“People are definitely going to notice it,” he said. “We want that shock. We want that awe. But at the same time, we don’t want people to feel their rights are being threatened. We need them to be our eyes and ears.”

At Monday’s Heat game against the New York Knicks, season ticket holder Tony Gonzalez, 34, said he wasn’t worried about any potential violation of civil liberties.

“When you enter an arena or stadium at full capacity you just don’t know who is going through the turnstiles,” said Gonzalez, an attorney. “Everything that helps our security, I’m for it.”