Dante Elbin
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 42 sworn officers, 1 TAC officer, 7 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, or K-9 Drug Interdiction.

Department Organization
Chief of Police
Dante Elbin was born at Clark Air Force Base in Angeles City, Philippines to Major and Mrs. Terry Elbin. He joined the United States Air Force after high school and moved to Gautier in 1993, after receiving an honorable discharge from the military. He and his wife, Kenna, were married in 1996 and have one daughter and one son, Avery and Ayden Elbin. His parents, sister and in-laws all reside in Jackson County. Dante began his employment with the City of Gautier in 1993 as a patrol officer.

Traffic and Training Division
The Traffic Division is supervised by Capt.
Casey Baxter, and the Training Division is supervised by Capt. Scott Wilson.
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. Capt. Wilson is in charge of
continuous training and education of the Gautier Police Department Officers as
required by the Mississippi Office of Standards and Training.

Administration Division
The Administration Division is supervised by Capt. Danny Selover. Capt. Selover is responsible for administrative duties, equipment inventory, and maintenance.  

Criminal Investigations Division
The Criminal Investigations Division is
supervised by Lt. Jerry Killingsworth and Sgt. Jothan Hunter. The Criminal
Investigations Division is comprised of 7 investigators. Each investigator is
assigned to either the 4-person investigations unit or the Narcotics Task Force.

Patrol Division
The Patrol Division is supervised by Capt. Casey Baxter. 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 Trafficing Area).
Officer McQuagge and his K-9, Ceasar 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.