Since he was a child, Timothy Mallory has had a great deal of involvement with local law enforcement n but in a good way.

“When I was a young kid, my uncle was a police officer in Richmond, and cops were always coming by the house,” Mallory said. “I always wanted to be in law enforcement.”

On Tuesday, he’ll have a shot at becoming one of the area’s top lawmen n Mallory will go against third-term incumbent Raleigh H. Isaacs Sr., in the race for Suffolk sheriff. For Mallory, it’s one more step in a long journey of law.

After finishing high school, the Richmond native spent seven years in the Air Force. That’s when he took his first step toward a law enforcement career.

“I worked in the legal department, doing things like court reporting and legal research,” he said.

He obtained an associate’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Maine in 1987, the same year he left the Force for the Norfolk Police Department. There, he worked in undercover drug operations.

“That was deep,” he said. “I was spending time in the area, buying things from dealers. It was successful, but it was an emotional roller coaster.” He added that his unit had a 99 percent conviction rate.

He spent time in many local elementary and middle schools, working in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education

program and as an instructor for the Department of Criminal Justice. Mallory also worked in surveillance and stakeouts.

“The most rewarding part of my work was as a Community Resource Officer (in DARE),” he said. “I worked closely with the people in public housing project, and the criminal element realized that we weren’t going anywhere. Neighbors hadn’t been sitting outside before; but after we were there for a while, they were back outside, and children were playing. We reduced crime in the community.”

In 1995, Mallory earned a bachelor of arts degree in criminology from St. Leo University. Four years later, he was hired as the Senior Coordinator of Security Services in Norfolk Public Schools, where he supervises 55 full-time and 15 part-time security officers, helping them to oversee a student population of 37,000.

He is the project director for the Emergency Response and Crisis Management Grant for Norfolk Public Schools. He has served as a program operator for Safe Schools/Healthy Students Grant Initiative of $7.8 million. A certified instructor for the FEMA Multi Hazard Emergency Planning for Schools course and Virginia School Security Officers Training, he has also been certified as a general instructor for Police Academy Training and a field training officer.

Mallory moved to Suffolk in 2001. During the past few years he started thinking about running for public office. After receiving a master’s degree in education from Regent University, he went to a different kind of school n the Thomas C. Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia.

“That gave me a better understanding of political law,” he said. “We learned how to campaign, and the ‘dos and don’ts’ of campaigning. Many of the people I attended with are state delegates, and one is a sheriff.”

He hopes to become the second to achieve that position.

“I have a vision of the city’s growth,” he said. “I want more community involvement. Crime is starting to increase, and the prevention starts with young people. We need to start working together better as a city.”

On his Web site, www.malloryforsheriff.com, Mallory lists his goals as assisting in providing a safe school environment with crisis management training, promoting youth prevention programs (Class Action: state program), school safety audits, and child identification programs, certified deputies in CPR and AED, providing crime-prevention programs for homes and businesses, assisting first-time offenders to become effective citizens, and coordinating Senior Outreach initiatives with city agencies and businesses.