Ms. McMahon serves as a senior instructor and curriculum developer for Crisis Hostage Negotiation and Peer Support Programs for Crisis Systems Management, LLC.
Ms. McMahon retired as a Special Agent of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division. Prior to her retirement, Ms. McMahon was an instructor assigned to Operations and Investigations Division, Advanced Law Enforcement Training, U. S. Army Military Police School, Fort Leonard Wood, MO. Ms. McMahon instructed advanced law enforcement subjects to criminal investigators who were assigned to municipal, state, and federal law enforcement agencies from throughout the world. In addition to her instructional duties, Ms. McMahon developed specialized advanced law enforcement training programs.
During her twenty-one years of law enforcement experience, Ms. McMahon has performed such diverse duties as patrol, traffic accident investigation, desk sergeant, covert drug investigator, criminal investigator, protective services agent, and crime scene and evidence technician. She has also served as a senior criminalistics advisor, evidence program manager, and in a variety of positions on Crisis Response Teams. Ms. McMahon served in supervisory capacities as Task Force Commander and as an Operations NCO to a seventy-person protective service security element for the 50th Anniversary NATO Summit. Assignments have taken Ms. McMahon throughout the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
Some of Ms. McMahon's technical education and training includes: numerous Crisis and Hostage Negotiations courses, Countering Terrorism, Traffic Accident Investigation, Advanced Fraud Investigation, Protective Services, numerous advanced interview courses, gang training courses, and several Drug Enforcement Administration training courses. In addition to her technical training, Ms. McMahon has also attended more than twenty-six weeks of leadership development and management training. Ms. McMahon has earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology.
In a variety of environments, Ms. McMahon has served as a member of a crisis response team, and has negotiated numerous hostage, barricaded subjects and potential suicide incidents. In addition to her practical experience, Ms. McMahon has authored Crisis Response Plans, has planned, executed and supervised major crisis response training events, and has published numerous professional articles on a variety of law enforcement topics, including crisis negotiation and crisis negotiation training.
Ms. McMahon served has served as editor-in-chief of a professional publication and has written numerous professional articles. Into the Chaos, a field manual for Crisis Negotiators, was a collaborative writing effort for which Ms. McMahon served as Senior Editor and writer.
Ms. McMahon is currently the Training Director for the Missouri Association of Crisis Negotiators.