A new full-time deputy has joined the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office.

David Miles, who has nearly 10 years of experience in the Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, said he’s excited to come “home” to Suffolk, where he’s resided for six years and where his wife is a native.

“We’ve put our roots in here,” he said, adding that the family loves Northern Shores Elementary School. Their 13-year-old child attended there, and they have a 6-year-old there now and a 2-year-old looking forward to going there.

Miles has a degree in mass communications but got into law enforcement after having a conversation with a state trooper and deciding it was a good career for him.

“As cliché as it sounds, communication goes a long way in law enforcement,” Miles said. “You can either create or diffuse a problem with communication.”

Miles worked in the city jail in Virginia Beach for about four years. He then went to the courthouse for about five and a half years, where he was assigned as a bailiff in General District Court.

He said he wanted to move to the Suffolk office to be closer to home.

“I love it; it has a different feel,” he said. “I have a connection to the city, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of people.”

So far, Miles has been working in various areas of the sheriff’s office to get used to all of it. He’s not sure where he’ll wind up on a permanent basis.

But wherever that is, he hopes to use his skills in communication to serve the city and the community.

“I look forward to getting to know more people and to getting to help people, which is the privilege of being a sheriff’s deputy,” he said. “Success is not based on what you get; success is based on what you give.”