Tanya is a native of Des Moines, Iowa. She recently retired from the West Des Moines Police Department a s a Patrol Sergeant. Over the last 20 years in law enforcement, she has been assigned to the Patrol Division, Bike Patrol, Special Operations Division, Crime Prevention/Community Relations and the Criminal Investigations Unit. Tanya has been involved in many aspects of the police department, including fifteen years as a negotiator and Team Leader with the Special Emergency Response Team. She has been a liaison with the Mobile Crisis Response Team developing and maintaining relationships with individuals with mental health issues. She has assisted in developing programs and legislation throughout the years and received numerous awards for her service within her profession. Tanya has developed and implemented numerous training programs for organizations, civic groups, schools, and law enforcement agencies. Tanya also volunteers as a critical incident stress management team member. In 2002, on the first anniversary of 9-11 she volunteered to go to New York City to provide peer support services to the members of the New York City Police Department. Today, she volunteers for the Red Cross in providing peer support and critical incident stress management services to first responders. Since 2009, Tanya has worked extensively with returning combat veterans and law enforcement agencies throughout the world in topics related to critical incident, combat and police stress, police/veteran suicide, peer support and encountering individuals with mental health issues. Tanya has a Bachelor's degree in Sociology from Iowa State University and her Master's degree in Public Administration from Drake University. She has provided extensive training in the fields of peer support, Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), police suicide, law enforcement working with the mentally ill, and law enforcement working with transitioning veterans. Recently, she has developed a mid-level management course for the Saudi Arabian police.