Law Enforcement Intelligence (M.S.) Program

Admission Deadline

• Fall admission – July 1st
• Spring admission – November 1st
• Summer admission – March 1st 

Admission Requirements

A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution, or a comparable degree from an international institution, with a minimum 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) grade point average (GPA) in all coursework attempted while registered as an upper-division undergraduate student working towards a bachelor’s degree; or a graduate degree from a regionally accredited U.S. institution, or a comparable degree from an international institution. In addition, all students must have been in good academic standing at the last institution.

Program Application Requirements

The intelligence profession collects and evaluates data from a variety of human and technological sources. Our program incorporates this data to provide subject matter expertise required by the profession. In addition, all law enforcement and intelligence agencies have character and fitness eligibility requirements supported by extensive background investigations and many require their applicants to pass a polygraph.  In order to evaluate and select students who best meet both academic and professional requirements, applicants will also be required to

1. Complete and submit the University Admissions Office Online Application Form
2. Pay a non-refundable application fee of $30.00.  Application packets will not be reviewed until the fee has been paid.
3. Submit a completed Residency Affidavit. All applicants must submit this form, which is completed online.
4. Arrange for an official transcript from each college or university attended to be sent to the Office of Graduate Admissions. Transcripts may be sent digitally but must come directly from the institutions attended. An unofficial transcript may be uploaded for the College of Applied Studies for review.
5. Applicants must arrange for the submission of three letters of recommendation through the FSU application process. Letters should speak your academic abilities, work ethic and readiness for graduate-level work. Recommendations from current or former professors or employers are preferred, as they can offer insight into different aspects of your strengths. Letters on official organizational letterheads are strongly preferred. Personal references from friends or family will not be accepted.
6. Applicants must submit a self-authored, original statement of purpose through the FSU application. This statement should clearly express your interest in and fit for the program and will be evaluated on style, clarity of purpose, organization, grammar, and development of ideas. The statement should be 1–2 pages long, double-spaced, and typed in 12-point Times New Roman font.
   
   1. In your statement of purpose, be sure to answer at least these questions:
      
      1. What are your short and long-term goals?
      2. What do you plan to be doing in 10 years?
      3. Why have you chosen to apply to our master’s program?
      4. What experiences and competencies make you a strong candidate for our program (internships, work experience, awards, research skills, teaching experience, etc.?)
7. Applicants should submit/upload a self-authored, original, personal statement addressing their interest and fit for this program.
8. Applicants should submit/upload a resume which is carefully proofread, professional in nature, and outlines all related academic and professional experiences relevant to this program. 

A holistic approach will be used to evaluate the GPA, letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, and resume in order to achieve both the desired academic excellence and diversity in background. 

Please note: While FSU Panama City does not require nationally standardized graduate admissions tests, such as the GRE, for master’s programs, applicants to the MS in Law Enforcement Intelligence program who have an undergraduate GPA below 3.0 must submit GRE scores to be considered for provisional admission.

These applicants must have a combined GRE score of 285 or higher, based on the Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections. If your GPA is a 3.0 or higher, you do not need to submit GRE scores

Graduation Requirements 
To earn the MS in Law Enforcement Intelligence degree, students must complete a total of 36 credit hours, which include: 

• Seven (7) core courses – 21 credit hours
• Four (4) elective courses  - 12 credit hours 
• (Students may select any four electives from the approved list below or from graduate courses offered by other departments with prior approval.) 
• One (1) capstone project – 3 credit hours
  (The capstone should be taken during the student’s final semester in the program.)

All courses must be passed with a “B-” grade or better and students are expected to maintain a 3.0 GPA throughout enrollment in the program. If a “B-” grade or better is not achieved in a course, the course must be repeated.

Degree Requirements (Revised Effective July 2025)

Core Courses – 21 Credit Hours Total

Collection:

• DSC 5595 Human Intelligence Collection (3 credit hours, offered in Fall)
• This course focuses on how to develop, recruit, maintain, verify and secure human intelligence sources. 
• CCJ 5079 Managing Intelligence Analysis Functions (3 credit hours, offered in Spring)
• This course provides the students with a foundation in the myriad of software that must be managed for effective intelligence gathering, analysis and dissemination.

Analysis: 

• CJE 5739 Research Methods for Law Enforcement Intelligence (3 credit hours, offered in Spring)
  This course focuses on the use of basic statistics and research methods in the analysis of various types of intelligence data. Emphasis will be on selecting the appropriate technique for the different problems and evaluating the results rather than the application procedures.
• CCJ 5748 Advanced Evidentiary Reasoning for Criminal Intelligence (3 credit hours, offered in Fall)
  This course provides case studies for practice in evaluating investigative evidence and developing that information into intelligence.
• CCJ 5616 Profiling Criminal Behavior (3 credit hours, offered in summer)
  This course introduces the student to legal profiling of criminal behavior, how to recognize trends in individual and organizational behavior, and provides practice creating effective prevention strategies and responses to criminal events.

Management/Decision-Making:

• CJE 5737 Law Enforcement Intelligence (3 credit hours, offered in Fall)
  This course provides the student a foundation and practicum in the establishment and on-going management of the intelligence apparatus within a law enforcement organization to include the mechanisms to lawfully collect, process, integrate and evaluate information for intelligence purposes. 
• CJE 5743 Introduction to Public Safety and Leadership (3 credit hours, offered in Fall)
  This course introduces the major issues, influences, and trends considered in the study and practice of public safety and leadership. Course material will include the explanation and analysis of research theory as it applies to human behavior in the application of research and theory to the solving of real-world problems in the public safety and leadership context.

Electives – 12 Credit Hours Total

Students must complete any four (4) electives from the list below.

• CPO 5429 3 Political Islam (3 credit hours, offered Fall)
  This course gives the student an introduction to and thorough examination of the history, trends and current movements in the political structure and influence of Islam domestically and abroad.
• CJE 5738 3 hours International Crime & Domestic Terrorism (3 credit hours, offered in Spring)
  This course studies real world examples of transnational crime with the emphasis on the conflation of terrorism and crime, as well as the cross-national and international efforts to combat transnational crime, including the roles of local law enforcement intelligence operations.
• CJE 5745 Use of Force (3 credit hours, offered in summer)
  This course is designed to build on prior investigative courses and to give the student an in-depth look at the law as it applies to the use of force, both lethal and non-lethal. Relevant court decisions that drive the investigation of use of force will be examined and their applications explained.
• SCC 5406 Market and Competitive Intelligence (3 credit hours, offered in summer)
  This course provides students with a knowledge base of practical tools and methods to research a businesses’ micro and macro environment exposing the student to analytical models and other resources an organization utilizes in the process of competitive intelligence.
• CJE 5631 Financial Intelligence (3 credit hours, offered in summer)
  This course examines the nature and scope of financial crimes and the use of financial analysis and other investigative techniques to proactively detect a variety of white-collar crimes to include money laundering schemes. 
• CJE 57XX Cyber Threat Analysis (3 credit hours, pending)
  This course gives the student some of the online tools and methodology of investigations used by analysts and their application to real world examples in dealing with the cyber threat.  
• CJL 5023 National Security Law and Intelligence (3 credit hours, offered in Fall)
  This course examines legal issues affecting National Security such as crimes against the State, criminal procedure in times of crisis, and United States Supreme Court rulings on the U.S. Constitutional protections of individual rights, regardless of status. 
• DSC 5027 Homeland Security and Domestic Terrorism (3 credit hours, offered in Spring)
  This course examines the history, logic, strategies and tactics of terrorism from a domestic law enforcement perspective, including an overview of weapons of mass destruction. Global, national and local counter-terrorism efforts will be explored, as well as the impact both terrorist acts and our responses have had on the way we view the world and each other.

Capstone Project – 3 Credit Hours

• CJE 5715 Independent Research Capstone (3 credit hours, offered every semester)
  This research-based project integrates the coursework of the program with a practical application within either the field or an academic setting. The student will complete a major research project and professional portfolio during this course.  The capstone is typically taken during the final semester of the program.  

Academic Standards and Continuation Policy

The College of Applied Studies reserves the right to discontinue a student's enrollment in the Law Enforcement Intelligence - MS program if satisfactory academic progress is not maintained. Graduate students must achieve a grade of "B-" or better in all required graduate courses and maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 across all coursework applicable to their degree. Students who accumulate four or more unsatisfactory grades (C+, C, C–, D+, D, D–, F, U, or IE) in program-specific courses taken at Florida State University or elsewhere, whether repeated or not, may not be permitted to continue in the program, be readmitted, or graduate with an MS in Law Enforcement Intelligence.

This worksheet is to be completed by the student’s graduate advisor and signed by the student's advisory committee prior to the end of the second semester of graduate work. After all signatures are obtained, a digital copy will be provided to the student to retain for reference. Please contact your graduate advisor for access to the Program of Study worksheet.