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WEST VALLEY CITY — When Braydon Brotherson received his certificate upon completing the police academy, his mother, Jenny, couldn't help to think of a special moment he was robbed of.
She thought of her other son, Cody, who would have been able to be the one to hand Braydon Brotherson that certificate.
"Cody would be so proud to hand that off to (his) little brother," she said, recalling the ceremony held on April 19.
Braydon Brotherson, the younger brother of fallen West Valley police officer Cody Brotherson, who was killed in the line of duty in November 2016, graduated from the police academy and accepted a job as a correctional officer for the Utah Department of Corrections, the West Valley Police Department wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
Braydon Brotherson has actually been on the job at the Utah State Penitentiary for four months, but didn't graduate from the police academy until two weeks ago.
"I kind of imagined that moment for myself and when it came, it was really surreal," Braydon Brotherson said.
Of course, through his brother's life, he knows the dangers of that come with being an officer.
Cody Brotherson died Nov. 6, 2016, after he was struck by a vehicle while attempting to deploy a spike strip to end a pursuit. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert ordered flags across the state to be lowered to half-staff for his funeral Nov. 14.
Three teens inside the vehicle that struck Cody Brotherson were later apprehended and pleaded guilty in June 2017 and were sentenced the following month.
All three were sent to a juvenile facility, and prosecutors did not seek to transfer the case to the adult system in Utah courts.
Braydon Brotherson thanked the West Valley Police Department and the community for their support in the days after his brother’s death during Cody Brotherson's funeral.
"Thank you for bringing our family the respect and honor our family has," he said at the time. "All the best qualities I have are the ones you have gifted me."
He added at the time that Cody Brotherson was his “hero” and “role model.”
Braydon Brotherson echoed those thoughts when he reflected on Cody's life during the annual memorial service held at the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial Thursday morning.
He said Cody was a rare breed in that he knew he wanted to be an officer when he was in the first grade. The two talked about Braydon also becoming an officer and Cody warned Braydon of the dangers, but when he rode along with his brother, Braydon Brotherson couldn't help but notice the positive impact Cody Brotherson brought to the community he served.
"I never had the desire, necessarily, to be (a) police (officer), but I wanted to be in a career that mattered," Braydon Brotherson said. "I looked at teaching, nursing, but through Cody and getting to ridealongs, I saw the impact officers can have and that sparked it for me."
He added he hoped to serve as a correctional officer the same way his brother served as a police officer, improving the lives of others.
"For me, when I'm dealing with our population of inmates and convicts, I try to treat them as individual as I possibly can," he said.
As Braydon Brotherson begins his career as an officer, he has the backing of his family and Cody Brotherson's former colleagues.
Officers within the West Valley City Police Department were thrilled when they heard Braydon Brotherson had entered the police academy, said West Valley Police Deputy Chief Matt Elson.
"It's an honor for us as a profession to have somebody who has lost so much to be willing to give back in the same respect as his brother did," Elson said.
Jenny Brotherson said she believes Cody Brotherson will still be there somewhere looking out for him.
"Everyone asks if I'm more scared now because of what happened with Cody, I think I'm more realistic now. but I will always support my kid's decisions and follow them where they go, and just be there to help them," she said.
"This is (Braydon's) time and his path. It will be very, very different than Cody's, but we're incredibly proud of (Braydon) — and Cody's looking out for him."
Contributing: Ladd Egan, KSL TV
