Amid a crowd of onlookers at the Rockville Metro station, one man waved a knife at the throat of another. Officer Brian Montes approached, gun drawn, but the man refused to yield. Behind the victim, two young boys watched, entranced. Montes noticed, holstered his gun, drew his Taser and shot the perpetrator, in midswing. “If those kids had seen someone shot, that would’ve destroyed their lives. So, thankfully, I had a second option,” Montes said. The 25-year-old was one of a dozen officers honored for uncommon valor at the 36th Annual Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce Public Safety Awards. He spoke with The Examiner about the faith that sustains him.
Do you consider yourself to be of a specific faith?
I am a Catholic. I was raised Protestant, but my grandfather is a Catholic, and a wonderful, strong man. I went to King’s College — a Catholic college in Pennsylvania — and I converted there. My faith helps me believe that we are all equal, and should treat everyone with the utmost respect.
Did anyone or any event especially influence your faith or your path in life?
My father was a police officer in New Jersey, where I grew up. Now, I forget what year it was, or how old I was, but I was a young kid and my dad and brother and I had been bowling with my soccer team. When we were driving home, we passed by an open lot outside of Trenton, and saw a police officer in a fight with a guy. My dad slammed on the brakes, jumped out, locked the doors, and ran over to help this officer — it was a big guy he was fighting. I don’t remember much else but my dad dropping everything to help the officer. Just because he was off duty and in his personal car didn’t really make him off duty. I love that he stepped up to the plate, and went out there and did what he had to do.
Where does your faith come into play on the job?
We deal with so many types of calls, but we never get called to a good situation. We never get called to say happy birthday, or to give someone a high five. We get called when people are at their lowest, and it gets hard to remember that there are good people out there. And that’s where my faith in God comes into play. Without faith and a solid base, I don’t know how I’d get through. I pray every day. I pray on the road to work, and every day when I get home.
My patience gets tested a lot, and that’s when faith helps me, too, and that’s when praying helps me. It gets hard sometimes, because you see a lot of negative. And for all of the negatives that I see, I know there’s gotta be a ton more good, but we never see it. But I’ve gotta keep faith that’s there.
What do you know about criminals and troublemakers from dealing with them every day that the rest of us don’t know?
There are all sorts of criminals out there. There are violent criminals who roll with gangs, there are street burglars, there are drug criminals, white-collar criminals — criminals can be anyone, anyone at all. When I’m not on a call, I do nothing but people-watch. I just like to go to different sections of Rockville and people-watch, and talk to people. And everybody acts differently — you’d be surprised. But when they notice me and then act different, that’s a sign. But just to look at someone is not enough — there are some people who look like they’d never do any type of crime, and they have a laundry list. And vice versa — you just can’t profile on how they look, or what neighborhood they’re in.
At your core, what is one of your defining beliefs?
I believe that everyone can do good, but sometimes people just don’t. They make bad mistakes, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad people. Generally, people are good, and that’s what I have to believe in order to get through, and that’s what my faith helps me remember.
– Leah Fabel
