Minneapolis honors officers for saving lives

On Jan. 23 at 7 a.m., Minneapolis police Officer Dean Milner and his partner were dispatched to a home where an infant was reported to be not breathing. Assistant Chief Mike Kjos said the baby's mother had fallen asleep while breastfeeding and rolled over on the infant.

"Officer Milner noticed blood near the baby's mouth. [He] took the baby and realized he was not breathing," said Kjos. "Officer Milner began chest compressions until paramedics arrived and took the baby Code 3 to the hospital."

The baby survived, said Kjos. He then presented Milner with the department's lifesaving award.

Milner was one of nearly a dozen officers recognized at a ceremony in City Hall Tuesday for preserving the lives of others.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo also commended two investigators whose work on decades-old murder cases have resulted in charges in three of them. And he praised the work of officers who worked in partnership with other agencies to respond to the homeless encampment that sprung up along Hiawatha Avenue last year.

Arradondo says all the officers deserve the recognition, even though they don't do the job to receive awards.

"In this day and age when there's so much divisiveness and we all seem to be running 120 miles an hour," he said, "it's so important for us to take a moment to pause and reflect on what true nobility and service is."