By James Feichtner
During the Nov. 24 meeting of the Zionsville Board of Police Commissioners, Police Chief Rob Knox announced that Captain Douglas Gauthier will be stepping down from his role as Captain of the ZPD.
Gauthier has served Zionsville and the ZPD for more than two decades.
“I’ve really seen the department grow over the time period,” Gauthier said. “Also our area has probably [grown]five to six times as big as it was when I first started. [It’s been] a great experience. The town of Zionsville was great to work for. The people in the community are great. They really care about the police department. I know our officers care about the community also. It’s a very nice policing environment.”
While Gauthier will be leaving his full time role as captain, he will be moving on to a new career with the engineering company Nederveld. Gauthier will work in the field of fire investigation and accident reconstruction.
“I’ve been training in fire investigation and accident reconstruction for over 10 years here at the police department,” he said. “All that training and then just my basic knowledge of law enforcement, how to talk to people and kind of read them and what they had to say, just all the experience I have in Zionsville really helped out.”
Chief Knox expressed his gratitude for being able to serve with Gauthier noting how much he had done for both Zionsville and the ZPD. He also stated that Gauthier will stay available for the ZPD’s reserve division.
“In my [more than 35]years of being a police officer, Doug is undoubtedly one of the hardest working police officers and individuals I ever met in my life,” Knox said. “He is extremely talented and dedicated and he has performed so many tasks for this community. It’s [amazing]to see all that he’s done over these years. He has even chosen to stay on as a reserve officer. I wish him and his family well and he will be sorely missed.”
Knox said Lt. Robert Musgrave will assume the role of captain on Jan. 16. Gauthier said he’s training him for “a nice, seamless transition.”
“I’m really honored just to have the opportunity to move into the administration side of the department,” Musgrave said. “I’ve worked on the street for 36 years so it’d be a huge change to be inside. I’ve had the opportunity to get outside and deal with the public and the citizens; I look forward to that because that’s what I’ve done. I think we’ll move the police department forward and continue to improve on [its]professionalism.”
