ATC hires law enforcement veteran as new assistant commissioner

BATON ROUGE – Career law enforcement officer Joseph Picone III is the new assistant commissioner of the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC).

Picone (profile photo) supervises the Enforcement Division of ATC, which oversees regulation of the alcoholic beverage, tobacco and consumable hemp industries, in addition to compliance efforts to limit underage access to alcohol, tobacco and consumable hemp.

“I am proud to join ATC to make our communities a safer place to live and work,” Picone said. “It is important that citizens and visitors to Louisiana feel safe as they enjoy everything our state has to offer.”

Picone’s four decades of law enforcement experience include serving as a sergeant in the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, as a captain in the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office, and as director of the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation in the state Attorney General’s Office. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from Loyola University in New Orleans.

“We are glad to have Joe on the team,” said ATC Commissioner Ernest Legier, Jr. “His experience and commitment to public safety are assets to ATC and the people of Louisiana.”