Members of the Vanguard Justice Society, which represents black city police officers, criticized the organization's leadership because several candidates were excluded yesterday from the group's elections.

"We have dues-paying members who are puzzled and don't know what is going on," said Detective Irvin Bradley, a former president of the group. "I'm in disbelief. The members are highly upset. ... We wanted a fair election."

Leaders of the Vanguard Justice Society, which represents about 600 black city police officers, declined to say why they deleted the names of three outspoken members from ballots. The election results were being tallied last night.

"This is a private, not a public, matter," said Sgt. Richard A. Hite Jr., Vanguard's president.

Members said Hite and other organization leaders removed several candidates from the ballot, including Officer Shirley Onyango for president, Sgt. Louis Hopson for vice president and Lt. Robert Richards for board membership.

Each has criticized Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris about his minority hiring and promotions practices. Norris has called the officers "idiots" with grudges against the department.

Hite said in May that the officers have "personal agendas" and are "disgruntled."

Richards, Onyango and Hopson said they were not told why their names were removed from the ballots yesterday. They said they had satisfied all the requirements to run for office.

Richards, who claims that his removal last year from commanding the helicopter unit was racially motivated, said he will seek an injunction to halt the election. "People are outraged at this," he said.

In a letter to the board of directors last month, Richards alleged that Vanguard leaders had altered the minutes of a meeting. He also raised questions about the group's spending and accounting practices.