David Bever
Chief of Police
228-497-2486

The Gautier Police Department provides law enforcement protection to more than 18,500 residents throughout 32 square miles of territory. The City of Gautier sees an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 additional motorists passing through its boundaries on any given day, as they travel Interstate 10 and Highway 90.

The Gautier Police Department consists of 40 sworn officers, 1 TAC officer, 8 communications operators, 1 records clerk, and 1 administrative assistant. The sworn officers are assigned to duty in either Patrol, Traffic, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Crime Prevention, K-9 Units, and Animal Control.

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.
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Traffic and Training Division
‍The Traffic Division is comprised of 3 officers. These officers work various duty hours covering six school zones, special details, community events, and enforcing traffic laws throughout the city.

Administration Division
The Administration Division is responsible for administrative duties, equipment inventory, and maintenance.  

Investigative/Special Operations
The Investigative/Special Operations is comprised of 7 investigators. Each investigator is assigned to either the 4-person investigations unit or the Narcotics Task Force.

Patrol Division
‍The division is comprised of 4 rotating shifts consisting of 6 officers each. Each shift is supervised by a lieutenant and sergeant. Each officer is assigned to one of the four city beats.

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.