Department Organization

Chief of Police

Chief David Bever is originally from Racine, Wisconsin, but made the Mississippi Gulf Coast his home while in the U.S. Navy and stationed aboard the USS Yorktown in 2001. Upon completing his enlistment from the Navy, he entered into law enforcement as a patrolman for the Moss Point Police Department.
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In 2005, David transferred to the Gautier Police Department, where he took several positions across the department. In 2016, he was promoted to sergeant, and, in 2017, he was promoted to lieutenant. In 2020, he became a captain, where he oversaw the operations and administrative duties of the patrol division, communications division, and the K9 division.

David and his wife, Audrey, were married in 2018 and have two children - Luke, 7, and Liam, 1.

Administration Division

The Administration Division is responsible for administrative duties, equipment inventory, and maintenance. The Administrative Division consists of an Administrative Assistant to the Chief, Deputy Chief of Police, Field Operations Captain and an Support Operations Captain.

Patrol Division

‍The division is comprised of 4 rotating shifts of Officers, School Crossing Guards, Marine & Dive Team, and Animal Control. Each shift is supervised by a Lieutenant and Sergeant. Each officer is assigned to one of the four city beats.  

Traffic Division

‍The Traffic Division is comprised of 2 officers. These officers work various duty hours covering six school zones, special details, community events, and enforcing traffic laws throughout the city. 

Support Operations/Training Division

‍The Support Operations/Training  Division is comprised of TAC Officer, Dispatchers, Training/Crime Prevention Officer and a Records Clerk. This Division provides public service communications to the public and Officers, conducts and prepares field training for new Officers and oversees continuing education for certified Officers, maintains and provides police records to the public, conducts internal affairs investigations and oversees special events.

Investigative/Special Operations

The Investigative/Special Operations is comprised of  investigators and supervised by a Lieutenant. Each investigator is assigned to either the 4-person investigations unit or the Narcotics Task Force.

Drug Interdiction

The city's drug interdiction officer is attached to a federal initiative program, HITDA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area). The officer and his K-9 are responsible for proactive drug enforcement along Interstate 10 and fugitive tracking.

The purpose of the HIDTA program is to reduce drug trafficking and production in the United States by:

• Facilitating cooperation among Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to share information and implement coordinated enforcement activities;
• Enhancing law enforcement intelligence sharing among Federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies;
• Providing reliable law enforcement intelligence to law enforcement agencies to facilitate the design of effective enforcement strategies and operations; and
• Supporting coordinated law enforcement strategies that make the most of available resources to reduce the supply of illegal drugs in designated areas of the United States and in the Nation as a whole.

Reserve Officers

The program is comprised of community members who volunteer their time to fulfill many of the roles handled by full-time sworn police officers. Reserve officers receive the same training as full-time officers and work alongside them in every aspect of department operations