By Joe Winter
Catholic Herald correspondent
St. Patrick parishioner named police officer of the year
HUDSON -- He resides in the Hudson area and attends St. Patrick's Parish there, but detective Ed Hanson of the Bloomington (Minn.) Police Department was named the 2005 police officer of the year by that city's Optimist Club.
Hanson has been with the Bloomington department since September 1985, after two years working in law enforcement in western Wisconsin. He was selected for the award on recommendation of Police Chief John Laux and honored at the club's annual Respect Law Enforcement observance.
Hanson has served in many capacities, and after many years in the patrol division, in 1997 he was assigned to the Crimes Against Persons Investigative Unit. "Ed has become well recognized as a thorough and tenacious investigator and he was instrumental in solving several big cases in the last year," the award stated.
Hanson is active in leadership roles and in coaching youth sports at the parish level. He says that the best thing he does on the job is telling families the good news that criminals have been caught -- allowing the victims to have closure -- as well as mentoring younger officers.
Hanson is the lead investigator for all predatory offender investigations in the city. After initial reluctance to take the assignment, Hanson has made the department's predatory offender program a success that's been used as a model throughout Minnesota. His knowledge of the statutes, the legal process, and the offenders themselves has gained acclaim from the Hennepin County attorney's office, and many other law enforcement agencies.
"Ed works in subtle (and not so subtle) ways to let predatory offenders know that we know who they are and that we take an active role in tracking them. We've even heard that the word is out in the offender community -- if you can avoid living in Bloomington, do it," the award said.
"It's the challenge. I'm a competitive person," Hanson said about what drives him. "It's gratifying to solve a crime and let the victims know you caught the person responsible."
Hanson was the lead investigator in an assault at Camp Snoopy (at Mall of America) in late 2003. Two small groups of gang members got involved in a fight that resulted in a teenager being stabbed through the skull with a screwdriver. The victim lay in a coma and was expected to die.
Armed with little more than grainy surveillance photos, Hanson and other investigators delved into the culture of the Minneapolis Latin Kings and Maras Salvatruchas street gangs. Given the violent nature of the people involved, witnesses were reluctant to provide information.
"Many spoke only Spanish, and Ed's knowledge of that language ends at ordering from a menu," the award stated. "Through weeks of diligent and relentless work in many seedy houses and apartment complexes, Ed was able to identify the suspects."
With the help of many other investigators, he was able to secure convictions and lengthy prison sentences for two of the assailants. "This case was the most gratifying, being able to tell the family," Hanson said, adding the victim's family had not been in the country long and the teenager "got mixed up with the wrong people." The victim lived, but still has significant motor impairment on the left side of his body.
Hanson also investigated a terrifying home-invasion robbery in which two masked suspects broke into an apartment to take a large ring off the hand of an elderly homeowner. Again, armed with very little information but acting on what was called well-honed police intuition, Hanson was able to recover the ring and get both suspects convicted.
Hanson said he gave up his "first love" in 2005, when he stopped working on the SWAT team of which he had been a member since 1991. This is a task usually reserved for the young, but Hanson retired at the top of his game, the award noted. He instructed other team members in submachine gun operation and chemical munitions, and was a rappel master, ensuring the safety of the team in high-angle training. Team leaders counted on Hanson in countless high-risk situations throughout the years, the award said.
"We'd get involved when something had gone downhill," Hanson said about the SWAT team. He still is an instructor for rappelling. Hanson leads training for such activities a few days each month, sometimes traveling to places like Fort Dodge, Iowa, or even Virginia.
Hanson said he loves training other officers, especially young ones, and serves as a mentor at times.
There is no typical day on his job, and the number of cases solved in a given time period varies greatly, since a single crime may take months to crack.
"Whether training new officers on firearms and defensive tactics, investigating high-profile cases, or leading an entry team into a dangerous situation, Ed has excelled in all he has done and exemplified the qualities we would like to see in all Bloomington police officers," the award states.
The work at times puts Hanson in harm's way, and he said his family has been particularly understanding about not stating their worry about their dad.
"They don't say it. They are the best in the world. They understand it," Hanson said, adding that his wife DeeDee is wonderful about many related matters, especially on getting the children where they need to be when he is at work.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2006