Christine Hess Orthmann holds an M.S. in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati and has been writing and researching in various aspects of criminal justice for over 20 years. She is the author of numerous Cengage Learning textbooks, a former reserve officer with the Rosemount (Minnesota) Police Department, and a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), the American Society of Criminology (ASC), the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA), and the National Criminal Justice Honor Society (Alpha Phi Sigma).