The other day, my youngest son asked me a question I’ll never forget…
/The other day, my youngest son asked me a question I’ll never forget…
By: Monty Bynum
He looked up at me and said,
“Dad, did you want to be a police officer?”
I smiled and said, “I did. I always did. I knew early on that I wanted to help people and I was willing to risk myself physically to protect others.”
Then he asked the question that stopped me cold:
“Why would you do a job that people hate you for?”
That hit different.
He wasn’t being disrespectful. He was just being honest the kind of honest kids are naturally capable of. But it made me realize something:
He’s growing up in a completely different America than I did.
When I was a kid, almost every little boy and girl said they wanted to be a police officer. Even if they didn’t mean it, they still thought it was cool noble, honorable, and respected.
Now, millions of kids across this country grow up in a culture that doesn’t understand policing, that has been conditioned to mistrust it, even fear it — despite the fact that policing at its core is about one thing: helping people.
I found myself wondering… when did that change?
It was long before George Floyd.
It didn’t happen overnight it was a slow erosion.
A thousand small moments where leadership failed, narratives went unchallenged, and we forgot how to tell our own story.
Somewhere along the way, too many police executives started chasing approval instead of earning respect.
They started making decisions not for what was right, but for what would look right.
And just like any relationship, when you start chasing love you lose it.
The more you chase, the faster it runs.
You can’t beg for trust. You build it.
You can’t demand respect. You earn it.
And you don’t restore faith in policing by trying to please everyone you do it by relentlessly pursuing excellence.
That means training harder.
Leading stronger.
Serving smarter.
Owning mistakes when we make them and never compromising the truth just to be liked.
Because here’s the reality:
The public wants to believe in its protectors again.
They want to be proud of their police.
But we have to give them something real to believe in.
And it starts with leadership that isn’t chasing popularity its chasing purpose.
My son’s question reminded me why I started this journey in the first place.
Not to be liked.
But to make a difference.
To protect.
To serve.
To lead.
That’s what a guardian does.
Monty Bynum is a USMC Captain Veteran and 32-year law enforcement professional whose career spans narcotics, counterterrorism, and complex criminal investigations with the DEA and GBI. He’s led Marines across 12 countries, dismantled international trafficking networks, and trained thousands nationwide. As founder of the ADB family of brands, he’s on a mission to restore the honor, pride, and excellence of policing—raising the next generation of guardians and redefining what it means to lead with purpose, conviction, and heart.
