BY ALFONSO CHARDY

 The accolades continue for the law enforcement officers
 involved in the nationally televised removal of Elián González
 from the Little Havana home of his Miami relatives April 22.

 At a recent U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service event
 in Orlando, departing INS Commissioner Doris Meissner
 presented plaques to former Miami Police Chief William
 O'Brien and former Miami Assistant Police Chief John Brooks
 for their participation in the controversial episode.

 At the same event, Meissner also presented awards to
 supervisory staff of the INS Miami District, one of which was
 directly in recognition for its role in the raid. That plaque is
 expected to be officially presented to local investigations staff
 Nov. 17 in Miami, said Patricia Mancha, an INS
 spokeswoman.

 The Orlando presentation was the latest public recognition of
 the law enforcement officers who took part in the raid to
 reunite the 6-year-old Cuban boy with his father.

 The events have angered the Cuban-American community and
 Elián's Miami family.

 ''It shows the character of Mrs. Meissner,'' said Armando
 Gutierrez, Elián's Miami family spokesman. ''For her to keep
 rewarding people for what they did in that house is really sad.
 People should be happy she's leaving INS.''

 Meissner is leaving the agency Nov. 17.

 While the plaques to O'Brien, Brooks and the INS staff
 attracted attention, INS officials who attended the
 Commissioner's Conference in Orlando Oct. 23-27 said the Elián awards were not
 the centerpiece.

 ''Dozens of people get awards for everything from support to customer service to
 enforcement to data integrity,'' said Michael Gilhooly, an INS spokesman.

 In the same ceremony, Jim Goldman -- the INS assistant district director for
 investigations -- accepted a group plaque on behalf of other INS and Border Patrol
 officers recognized for their involvement in the Elián operation, Gilhooly said.

 Meanwhile, the cable channel TLC has scheduled a one-hour documentary, Elián
 González: Prisoner of Politics, to air Nov. 25, the one-year anniversary of Elián's
 rescue from sea after his mother and 10 others drowned while fleeing Cuba for the
 United States.

 Producers say the film includes never-before-seen video footage of Elián with his
 mother, Elisabeth Brotons, and father Juan Miguel González taken in Cuba. A
 spokeswoman for LMNO Cable Group said the film has news footage shot during
 the boy's U.S. stay and fresh interviews.

 Herald television critic Terry Jackson contributed to this report.