Dr. Warren is from Texas, where she served as a police officer in Sugar Land from 1991 to 2005, leaving policing at the rank of sergeant. While on the police force, she served as a field training officer, a mental health officer and hostage negotiator. Dr. Warren earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and sociology from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas in 1990, a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Houston – Downtown in 2003, and a Ph.D. in criminal justice with a concentration in criminology from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas in 2009.