Cash is better than a medal

Late last summer, while commenting on the botched no-knock raid in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, we noted in passing what happened to homeowner Vang Khang and his family in their Minneapolis, Minnesota home on December 17, 2007:

When Minneapolis, Minnesota police officers had a wrong-house raid themselves several months ago, narrowly avoiding killing a Hmong immigrant family because of false informant information about drugs, information that wasn't checked out or verified in any way, not only was no one disciplined, the officers involved were actually given medals and commendations for "heroism" during the operation. They were rewarded with the bling because they came under fire from the father of the family, who had the unmitigated gall to shoot at the goons busting down his home's door in the middle of the night for what seemed to him no reason at all. (Interestingly, despite all of the gunfire from the Minneapolis SWAT officers, Vang Khang, the homeowner, was the only one who managed to hit someone in the debacle, slightly injuring three officers without sustaining any injuries to himself. Where's his medal?)

Now, for the update. The city of Minneapolis has agreed to pay $612,498 of taxpayer money to the Khang family as compensation for the trauma that they went through that night. No one to date has been disciplined for the shoddy police work that precipitated the wrong-house raid that Khang and his family were subjected to, and which now has cost the city more than half a million dollars of their peasants' funds. As far as I know, the officers involved got to keep their medals for their involvement in this fiasco.

Please, Minneapolis Police Department, no more "heroism and valor". You'll bankrupt the city.