Georgia Bureau of Investigation: Jake Pelfrey

The general public might not think about it, but the Georgia Bureau of Investigation does a lot of unseen, behind the scenes investigative work for Houston County and surrounding areas.

The Region 13 Investigative office in Perry serves Ben Hill, Bibb, Crawford, Dooly, Houston, Irwin, Peach, Turner, Twiggs and Wilcox Counties.

The agency handles a myriad of casework that differs in nature, and field agent Skyler “Jake” Pelfrey is one of several faces you might see out and about on GBI business.

“Anything ranging from death investigations, child crimes, fraud, use of force cases, anything like that you can be assigned here,” Pelfrey said. “There’s one other kind of agent, it’s a crime scene specialist…there’s also an intel analyst…but you will see most of the people in this building are going to be field agents.”

The GBI, much like the Georgia State Patrol, often assists local agencies in their investigations. Depending on the assignment, that work can take on different looks but Pelfrey said the job is all about people.

“I would say that probably 90% of what we do is talking to people,” Pelfrey said. “I have met some of the most incredible people I’ve ever met is on this job, and at times where I really didn’t expect to meet them…Some people you don’t want to talk to, but it’s the nature of the beast…I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Pelfrey has been with the Region 13 office since 2022; funny enough, before then he told himself he’d never get into law enforcement.

Pelfrey grew up in Cartersville, Georgia and was in the Air Force for a few years before taking a role as an intel analyst for the DeKalb County Police Department.

“I was attached to [DeKalb’s] gang unit,” Pelfrey said. “While I was working there I would do work with their homicide squad as well. Just my little part and being attached to a homicide investigation and then seeing it all come together and seeing it finally result in the arrest of the right person…it just left me very satisfied.”

Staying back at the office while the officers in the field tracked down the suspects he’d found all this information on left Pelfrey with a lingering desire.

That’s when he decided to go back on his word to never get into law enforcement. He applied to the GBI and has loved his work ever since.
Getting a job with the GBI is a bit more involved than other agencies. Most local police and the GSP go to an academy that lasts around half a year, but with the GBI you are required to obtain a four-year degree.

“Technically there’s only two things you have to have, and the easiest thing first is be 21 years old, and the second is you have to have a bachelor’s degree,” Pelfrey said. “There’s not any kind of written rule as to what your bachelor has to be…to make your application more competitive it’s recommended that you either get some military time or law enforcement experience to help.”

Pelfrey had both military and some law enforcement experience, and he mentioned an old roommate’s bachelor’s degree was in finance, so it doesn’t “technically” matter what the degree is in.

There are qualifiers past education and experience, though. Pelfrey offered a warning for more introverted personalities.

“If you are not a talkative person and you don’t enjoy having conversations with people, I would say being in law enforcement might not be for you. At least in the patrol or investigator aspect,” Pelfrey said. “Everything that we do is going to involve talking to people and a lot of the conversations we have are uncomfortable conversations. If that kind of thing bothers someone, I would say either look into something more in the forensics side of the house or maybe something different.”