MESSAGE FROM FT PAYNE POLICE CHIEF RANDY BYNUM

As head of the Fort Payne Fort Payne Police Department I just wanted to take a minute to talk about our communities’ relationship with our department.

I have worked for the Fort Payne Police Department for almost 23 years and have spent the last 6 as Chief of Police. Growing up in Fort Payne I had the utmost respect for the officers that patrolled the streets down through the years because that respect was instilled by my parents Sam and Olivia Bynum. As I have grown up the make-up of our department has changed dramatically from what I perceived as an older man’s job to a more of a 20 – 30 something year old man’s job.

Understandably with the change in personnel in our department the demographic make – up has definitely changed in the City of Fort Payne. We have been so blessed that some of the incidents that we see on T. V. have not occurred in our city. Overall I think that the communities respect for our officers and our officer’s respect for the citizens are as high as it has ever been. Please don’t let that lull you into the state of mind that something tragic will never happen in Fort Payne because it is now a matter of when and not if it will. The chiefs in their respective towns in the states of Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas did not ever imagine 3 weeks ago that such life changing events would happen on their watch either.

We as officers put on our various uniforms, pin on our badges and strap on several pounds of duty gear and report for our duty to serve and protect. I don’t think there is any officer in America or especially in this department that wakes up and says I am going to work and take someone’s life today. The one thing that I think that the general public forgets about our profession is we are not robots, instead we are human beings. We all have personal lives that we too deal with either before, during or after our shifts. Nobody realizes that that infant child was up all night with a stomach ache or that an officer is dealing with teenager who thinks that their parents are old and don’t know anything, to having to come up with some extra cash because something broke at home.

These officers are sworn to uphold the law and protect their communities but who is there to pick them up as things go south in their lives. So many times as an administrator you hear a lot without being in a conversation or you can just tell by a coworker’s face or his or her demeanor that something is not quite right with them. On the flip side of that coin it’s that officers job to size up a situation in a matter of a couple of seconds and have to make a life changing decision whether to preserve his life or someone around him or maybe do nothing at all.

What I am trying to say is I am grateful to the citizens of Fort Payne for showing the amount of respect and understanding toward our officers for the job that they do. I am also especially proud of the job that our officers have done and will continue to do while serving the citizens of our town. I think that there is an old saying that says “Don’t Judge a Man until You Have Walked a Mile in His Shoes”.

Patience, Understanding and Tolerance are three words that we all really need to live by.

Randy Bynum
Chief of Police