Professional Documents
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C
riminal intelligence specialists are ties. When a dedicated intelligence staff is 6. Membership and participation in
intelligence professionals provid- hired by a law enforcement agency, certain intelligence-related organizations and
ing dedicated support to a law minimum standards for these personnel associations.
enforcement agency or activity. must be applied. The U.S. Department of 7. Attributes and skills, which include:
About one-quarter of all law enforcement Justice (2004) lists seven standards for crimi- Subject-matter expertise
agencies in the United States have some nal intelligence personnel: Analytic methodologies
sort of dedicated intelligence capability, 1. A four-year college degree, or five Customer-service ethics
and with the growing trend toward intel- years intelligence-related experience Information handling and process-
ligence-led policing, this capability within and a two-year degree, or 10 years of ing skills
law enforcement agencies will almost cer- intelligence-related experience with Communication skills
tainly increase. Criminal intelligence less than a two-year degree. Critical-thinking skills
specialists may be either sworn police offi- 2. Completion of a minimum of 40 hours Computer literacy
cers who have received additional training of specialized intelligence training. Objectivity and intellectual honesty
in intelligence or non-sworn intelligence 3. Completion of a minimum of eight
professionals assigned to a law enforcement hours continuing education per year. Academic Studies
agency. When an agency can afford it, a 4. Active involvement in an ongoing A college degree is important for criminal
cadre of civilian intelligence professionals is professional development program. intelligence personnel in order to develop
preferred. In cases where budgets do not al- 5. Certification through government a broad foundational knowledge in their
low for a dedicated intelligence staff, sworn agencies, professional associations, or field. Dr. Colleen McCue (2007) calls this
officers may be assigned to intelligence du- academic bodies. knowledge domain expertise: under-