She received her B.A. in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California at Irvine, her M.S. in Criminal Justice from the California State University at Long Beach, and her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland. She worked as a Research Associate in the Research and Planning Unit at the Westminster Police Department in Orange County, California, and as the Associate Academic Director for the Master Criminal Justice Distance Learning Program at the University of Cincinnati.