A man whose career began as a probation officer announced this week that he is a “voice for justice” and will counter what he called skyrocketing court dockets if elected as Lake County state’s attorney.

Focusing on boosting the fight against violent crimes, Assistant State’s Attorney Reginald C. Mathews, 39, of Lindenhurst, announced his candidacy as a Democrat running for the job of Lake County’s top prosecutor during a press conference on Monday at Veterans Memorial plaza in Waukegan.

“In today’s increasingly violent climate, it’s not time to get softer on crime, but tougher,” Mathews said. “In this fight against crime, you don’t send a novice or an opportunist into the ring. You send in an experienced fighter. I am that fighter.”

Mathews is the sixth candidate to announce he wants the job. The Republican candidates are Assistant State’s Attorney Louise Hayes, Mike Nerheim and Bryan Winter. Matthews joins Democrats Chris Kennedy and Scott Drury. They’re vying to replace retiring State’s Attorney Mike Waller.

Knowing that he’s in a pool of half a dozen people vying for Waller’s job, Mathews said in an interview he’d win the campaign by going door-to-door to talk with voters, and by “continuing to prosecute people on behalf of Lake County citizens.”

“I’ll continue with the tough cases,” he said.

Mathews has spent most of his career battling those who have committed violent and sexually deviant crimes, such as murder, home invasion, armed robbery and sexual acts against women and children, according to a news release.

Mathews has been able to gain the inside working knowledge of the state’s attorneys office in his 13 years of experience as an assistant state’s attorney, said Libertyville-based attorney Brett M. Henne. Mathews and Henne delivered Meals on wheels together for Catholic Charities and have been colleagues in the court system for more than eight years.

The press conference was “the beginning of a historical journey,” Henne said.

“He’s not a politician. He’s a prosecutor,” Henne added, noting Mathews’ principles have “never wavered.”

Attributing the rising crime rates to the declining economy, Mathews said in an interview that he plans to create a victim and survivors of violent crime committee and crime prevention committee, as well as specialized units to prosecute sex crime, cyber crime and gang prosecution units.

He also plans to allocate funds to create two new positions, supervisor of traffic division and an expert to testify in cases of child victims of sexual abuse-cases which he said are too often dismissed because the evidence is not understood well enough by juries.

Faith in the justice system must be restored when concerns continue to grow following trials such as the six-year battle over the Krystal Tobias and Laura Hobbs murder case, Mathews said.

Friend of the family and fellow parishioner, Clara Sawyer, 67, attended the press conference, saying Mathews is the best candidate for state’s attorney because of his experience, dedication to community service, and positive impact among children at First Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago.

“He has a positive attitude about life, and community and helping others,” Sawyer said.

Mathews’s mother, Louise Howard, 67, stood behind her son during his announcement. She believes in her son’s ideas and dreams, Howard said before the press conference.

Mathews said he takes inspiration from his mother.

“My four older sisters and I were raised by a single mother who on average worked two jobs just so her children will never experience poverty, so that her children would not have to depend on welfare agencies,” he said. “From her, I learned the meaning of hard work, love, spirituality and integrity.”

A father of four children, Mathews was educated at North Chicago public schools, and received his degree in Law Enforcement Administration from Western Illinois University. He received his law degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.