Behind the Badge: A look inside Gulfport PD’s Criminal Investigative Division

GULFPORT, Miss. (WXXV)- We’re getting a look inside the cases that don’t end when the cameras turn off.

Detectives with the Gulfport Police Department say the real work of solving crimes is far from what you see on TV.

WXXV’s Brynne Baxley takes us inside Gulfport Police Department’s Criminal Investigative Division.

Inside the Gulfport Police Department’s Criminal Investigative Division, every case begins with someone searching for answers. Detective Mitchell Ashby said, “You’re going to meet a lot of people who are going through the worst day of their life and you have to be there for them.”

That responsibility can shift quickly. Detectives may start the day working a sexual battery investigating, meeting with victims, gathering evidence, and building a case from the ground up. By the afternoon, they’re handling shoplifting. By night, they could be tracking credit card fraud. “You can go from working a credit card fraud one day to the next minute, you’re working a homicide.”

No two cases are ever the same, but one thing remains constant. Detective David Doane said, “Treat others how you want to be treated. What if that was my mom, or my sibling?”

It’s a mindset they say drives every decision, especially when the stakes are high. While crime shows may make the job look fast and simple, reality tells a different story. “The misconception that we can solve a case in a day; it is a TV thing.”

“Investigations can be very complicated. We come at it with a methodical approach.”

When the work finally comes together, detectives say the impact lasts far behind the case file.

For these investigators, that it what keeps them coming back.