Minneapolis PD honor officers, civilians at ceremony

Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan will honor several police officers and civilians Monday at a City Hall ceremony.

Among them are officers Larry Loonsfoot and Andy Enriquez, who will both receive the medal of valor. Earlier this year the officers, with the help of two men, pulled a man out of the basement of a burning home.

Police spokesman Sgt. William Palmer said the man in the basement was large, intoxicated and reluctant to leave.

"He fought with the officers who tried to get him out of the residence and officers had to overcome that - officer Loonsfoot and later officer Enriquez and the two citizens had to overcome that resistance before they could essentially drag the man out of the building," he said.

The two men, Mark Halley and Jesse Laninez will receive citizen lifesaving awards.

Dolan will also present an award to officer Dale Hanson. Hanson was recently named Investigator of the Year by the Minnesota Sex Crimes Investigators Association for his work fighting child pornography. Police Spokesman Sgt. William Palmer said Hanson has protected children from abuse through his work in computer forensics.

"In the last two years, he has developed over 200 cases in Minnesota related to the production and distribution of child pornography," he said. "We know of nine children for certain, who are not known to be victims of child pornography that were rescued as the result of Officer Hanson's work."

11 officers will be honored at the ceremony.