Bay St. Louis residents meet new police chief

This morning in Hancock County, Bay St. Louis residents mingled with police officers and met their new chief over Coffee with a Cop.
The newly appointed Chief of Police Gary Ponthieux Jr. grew up in the Bay. He has been with the Gulfport Police Department in the investigation and patrol units for 23 years.
Ponthieux tells News 25 his main goal for the next few weeks is to meet everyone in the police department, plus Bay city officials. He then wants to create stronger bonds between law enforcement and the community. “I want to implement good community policing practices. It’s going to be real important with us as a police department to bond with our community. The community of Bay St. Louis has been really strongly behind its police department over the years. We need to, in return, provide the most professional service we can to the citizens of Bay St. Louis.”
Ponthieux is the fourth person to take to the lead spot in the police department since former chief Mike DeNardo shot himself last year.