Smithfield police officer relishes being part of the community

By Randy Capps

As a young man, Brian O’Branovich knew he wanted to serve. He just wasn’t sure how.

“I wanted to go into the military at a young age, but that didn’t work out for me because of a football injury,” he said. “I wound up getting into loss prevention and doing security. That made me ultimately decide to get into law enforcement.”

For the last 16 years he’s served various roles for the Smithfield Police Department. And for that work, he earned the 2020 Johnston Now Honors Distinguished Police Officer award.

“You don’t do it for rewards or recognition,” he said of the honor. “You do it because it’s the right thing to do. As an officer, you want to make sure you’re out there doing the right thing as a professional and representing your agency as well as the town.”

He began his career with the Crabtree Valley Special Police Department, working as a security guard. The CVSPD helped him cultivate his interest in law enforcement, and also paid for him to attend Basic Lew Enforcement Training.

He joined the Smithfield Police Department in 2004, and the rest is history.

“I was 24 when I started here,” he said. “Now that I’m 40, I have matured with this community. I’ve been very fortunate. Smithfield’s been very good to me. I’ve had opportunities to go to the City of Raleigh and bigger agencies. I really didn’t want to be just a number.

“I wanted to make myself known in a community and strive to help people. The good Lord has provided an opportunity for me to be here in Smithfield, and I’m focused on being in Smithfield. People know me as me. With a last name like O’Branovich, it’s not a common Johnston County last name. Everybody calls me “OB,” and that’s how I’m known here.”

He’s not the only O’Branovich in town, however. He lives there with his wife, Jamie, and three sons. They also own and operate Salon 29:11 & Day Spa, named for a passage from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verses 11-13, which reads:

“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

“I love the fact that it’s all local, and we’re making this community home,” he said of his family’s roots in Smithfield.

He started in SPD as a patrol officer. He has since been promoted to detective, patrol sergeant and, in 2015, lieutenant.

“I’ve grown through the ranks,” he said. “I started from the bottom and I’m working my way up. I’ve just found Smithfield to be home. I’m very proud to be here.”

Even after a trying summer for some of his fellow police officers, it’s still a job O’Branovich is passionate about.

“The climate nowadays is tough,” he said. “You truly have to be called to do this job. It’s one of those professions that’s not easy. We deal with hardships on a regular basis. I try to mentor the younger guys who are trying to get into this, but they truly have to want it in their heart. It’s not something you do for the money. It’s something you do because you want to help people.

“This is a job I do. I take this uniform off at the end of the night. I am a person. I’m Brian. I have true compassion for what I do as a professional in this field, but I have a family. I focus on treating everybody the same and trying to do the right thing.”