About the Institute
We build public safety careers
Home for the Public Safety Institute at Eastern Florida State College is a 66,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility on the Melbourne Campus that includes a mock jail cell, mock courtroom, and variety of labs and other facilities where students study the latest techniques in criminal justice.
The Institute also serves veteran public safety professionals who want to gain additional advanced training and stay abreast of developments in their fields.
The Fire Training Center on EFSC's Palm Bay Campus is also under the Institute's service umbrella.
Home to the firefighter certificate program and Fire Science Technology A.S. degree, the Center includes a four-story rescue tower, two-story burn building for live burns, a propane field with control center, and an academic classroom building.
EFSC is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and the Public Safety programs are licensed or certified through: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), The Florida Bureau of Fire Standards and Training (BFST), The Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for Emergency Medical Service Professionals (CoAEMSP), and the Florida Department of Health (DOH).
The mission of EFSC's Public Safety Institute is to provide quality training and education to current public safety practitioners and men and women entering the public safety and criminal justice fields, preparing them for today's workforce, to serve and safeguard their communities.
We are home to the Brevard Police Testing & Selection Center (BPTC) — a regional resource that tests and screens people pursuing public safety careers. BPTC is the primary point-of-contact for applicants wishing to attend the Law Enforcement Academy, receive Equivalency of Training evaluation or apply for inclusion in the county-wide employment pool.
Explore our web pages to find specific application information that's customized for each program. Be sure to work with a program coordinator or advisor as you plan your program. Careers in public safety often require an increased level of background checks, testing and screening. Be prepared for that increased scrutiny for our limited access programs because of Florida law and administrative code requirements about who's eligible to enter a public safety/law enforcement training program.
We're here to help you navigate your exciting career possibilities.