Protecting Georgia's No. 1 industry: New agriculture law enforcement division head explains his job

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Harlan Proveaux will serve as the new Inspector General and Director of the Law Enforcement and Emergency Management Division of the Department of Agriculture.

Credit: Georgia Department of Agriculture

The Georgia Department of Agriculture has regained its status as a law enforcement agency. 

The Department of Agriculture was a law enforcement agency before 2013, when the law enforcement division was disbanded. 

Harlan Proveaux will serve as the Inspector General of the new Law Enforcement Division and Director of Emergency Response Management to protect Georgia's top industry. 

"Agriculture is Georgia's No. 1 industry that provides food and other essential products to people around the world," said Proveaux, who has 29 years of law enforcement experience. "This industry is not immune from risk."

The law enforcement division allows the department to assist with other state and local law enforcement divisions. The department will help with  "a wide range of investigations from Animal Cruelty to Labor and Drug Trafficking to Agro-Terrorism, while also working to improve safety and security at the State Farmers Markets," a news release said. 

The law enforcement department will have full arrest power and will collaborate with other law enforcement agencies.

"We want to protect the produce and the food that people consume in Georgia, that they’re safe," Proveaux said. 

Regaining status as a law enforcement agencies was a relatively straightforward process, Proveaux said. The department had to get credentials reinstated from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Peace Officer Standards and Counsel. 

The Georgia Department of Agriculture was established in 1874 and is the oldest state department of agriculture in the nation. Tyler Harper is the current commissioner.