On. Jan. 12, Homewood resident Jordan Miles, 18, was confronted by three undercover police officers on Tioga Street as he made his way from his mother's home to his grandmother's nearby.

The officers were part of an elite undercover unit whose job was to remove illegal guns from the streets. In the darkness, the police claim Mr. Miles looked furtive and suspicious. Dressed in civilian clothes, they ordered him to freeze. Mr. Miles ran toward his grandmother's house instead.

The officers caught him. That's when Mr. Miles received what he claims in a federal lawsuit against the police and the city was an unjustified beating that resulted in neurological damage. The photos of Mr. Miles' swollen face have been seen repeatedly by Pittsburghers who have read or watched news accounts of the case.

This episode has become one of the most controversial in Pittsburgh police history and, as the summer slips toward fall, the city still yearns for answers.

No guns or contraband were found on Mr. Miles. The arresting officers initially said they mistook a bottle of soda for the bulge of a gun. Mr. Miles insists he wasn't carrying anything that night. The disputed object, said by police to be a bottle of Mountain Dew, was not catalogued as evidence when a battered Mr. Miles was taken to jail.

Later, District Judge Oscar Petite Jr. dismissed the charges against Mr. Miles. The three officers, who did not testify at Mr. Miles' hearing, remain suspended with pay, pending a federal civil rights investigation.

The city's Office of Municipal Investigations completed its own report earlier this year, but the city has not released or hinted at its conclusion. Several City Council members have called for its disclosure. City Councilman Patrick Dowd demanded that the Ravenstahl administration and the Department of Public Safety make it available months ago.

This week, Mr. Miles filed a federal lawsuit against Pittsburgh and the officers that could result in substantial judgments. Lawyers for the officers promise a vigorous defense for their clients.

As usual, the people of Pittsburgh end up being on the hook in several ways when a case like this drags on. Three officers are being paid for doing no policing. The taxpayers may have to cover damages from the Miles civil suit. The reputation of Pittsburgh's police officers is questioned by some members of the public.

Is it too much to ask OMI and federal investigators -- almost eight months after the incident -- to tell the public what they believe happened on a cold January night in Homewood?

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