HOPEWELL -- Thirty-one years ago, Ray Baxley entered the Hopewell Bureau of Police building on Main Street interested in a career in law enforcement.

Today, he will leave the same building after working his way from patrolman to deputy chief and twice serving as interim chief of police.

"This has been my life," Baxley, 53, said. "This has been almost my top priority."

Baxley is credited with leading several initiatives in the city, including pushing for more community policing and pushing strategies to combat drug crimes. Some of his colleagues see him as a role model and say he has the characteristics of a chief.

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Before joining Hopewell police, Baxley worked three years in the now-closed Virginia State Penitentiary in Richmond.

He served as sergeant for 13½ years. During that time he was community relations officer for four years, and worked to improve the community's trust in police. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1996 and began to supervise patrol officers and serve as a shift commander. Ten years later he became a major.

He said his most rewarding times on the force were those years he was in charge of the street crime unit, from the late 1980s to the early '90s. "We took a lot of drug dealers from the streets at that time," he said.

Sgt. Michael Walls, who joined the force 24 years ago and has worked closely with Baxley, said for years there were comments about Baxley's potential to become chief.

"I felt he had a lot of professionalism and the ability," Walls said.

In August 2006, Baxley was briefly acting chief when Chief Rex H. Marks resigned after the disappearance of $10,000 and drugs from the station's evidence room. Chesterfield police veteran James Stanley took the job about a month later, but Baxley was reappointed interim chief in August 2007.

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Steven D. Martin, who became police chief in January, said Baxley has been a key in the department's transition of leadership.

"This organization and this city will certainly miss his input and experience," Martin said.

Baxley and his wife, Pamela, who live in Prince George County, have four grown children. One of his daughters followed his footsteps and is an officer in the Prince George Police Department.

Today is Baxley's last workday; his retirement takes effect May 1. Baxley said he is looking to new horizons, perhaps as a chief elsewhere.

"I think I am leaving the city in fairly good shape."