Bankers are often a little like law enforcement officers and attorneys. You either respect them and appreciate what they can do FOR you or you fear them and hate what they can do TO you.

The category in which a person finds himself often has to do with whether or not he or she has been a good citizen or a good customer or not.

But the reality is that all three of those groups are, in fact, intent on trying to help citizens and customers.

For evidence of that, look no further than last week’s series of identity theft prevention seminars produced by the Miss-Lou Banking Alliance.

The group is the epitome of a customer-first group that is working for the common good rather than one individual company’s bottom line.

That level of working together is important in all levels of our community, but especially in the important area of community banking.

It’s refreshing to see that in a world that’s become increasingly dog-eat-dog our hometown banks will work together to look out for the best interests of our citizens.

Our elected leaders could learn a valuable lesson from such endeavors, too.

The bankers involved were not worried about which banks got credit for the seminar; they were just worried about getting out good information to the consumers to protect their identities.

With work like that, bankers will quickly stand out in a crowd of attorneys and police officers.