Lisa is a certified NASAR SARTECH II, a Canine SAR Tech III. She has been in law enforcement since 1978. She started with Pearl River P.D. as a mounted officer and has completed her thirty year run with St. Tammany Sheriff's Office mounted as well as SAR canine. She was in the Special Operations Division from 1991 through 2008. Higgins is co-founder of LaSAR and is a member of NSDA, serving on the advisory board. Lisa qualified as a "Subject Matter Expert" in canine body recovery in New Orleans Criminal Courts. Higgins is a member of the Federal DMORT Region VI Team, Louisiana and Texas State Mass Fatalities Taskforce and serves as a civilian contractor with the FBI on the Victim Recovery Team. She has co-authored several articles and a book chapter on water search and recovery.