ABOUT RICK JOHNSON

Rick Johnson is a former investigator for the Denver County and Jefferson County District Attorneys’ Offices, where he specialized in complex white collar crimes. He also served as grand jury investigator.

Rick started his private practice in Colorado in 1987. His first major investigation in 1987 was a probe of political kickbacks conducted on behalf of the Denver Elections Commission that determined that 50 of 51 candidates broke the law. After his investigation, Denver changed the Election Law. Rick's specialty in governmental misconduct included investigations into alleged misconduct by the police chiefs of four Colorado municipalities, all of whom resigned following Rick’s analysis.

In 2002, Rick was called upon by the Arapahoe Board of County Commissioners to investigate the activities of County Clerk Tracy Baker. Allegations of a sexual relationship and displays of favoritism toward a female employee had generated a lawsuit by another female employee, claiming discrimination and hostile work environment. Baker refused to resign. A recall election was held. Baker lost.

Rick also has specialized in domestic relations and child custody matters, including parental kidnapping, grandparents rights, matters of visitation, and related issues, including the recovery and return of minor children to parents in Colorado and in other states, who have primary legal custody.

Rick has volunteered himself and his investigative staff in service to the Metropolitan Volunteer Lawyers Program.

The MVL provides legal services in civil matters to indigent and low income people whom would otherwise be denied access to the courts.

Rick also has volunteered himself and his investigative staff in service to the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center. The Center provides legal services to indigent and low income parents regarding children’s legal issues.

Rick also maintains a substantial litigation support effort on behalf of attorneys in Colorado and across the country. He was recently called upon by a California law firm to locate a potential witness known only by their initials and a possible past residence in Boulder, Colorado. Rick found the woman in Scotland.

Along with major corporate, law, and governmental clients, Rick has maintained a long-standing obligation to the problems of individuals.

In 2005, he responded to a plea from a mother whose daughter was engaged in an on-line and text-messaging relationship with a man via one of the most popular on-line dating sites. Photos and personal information were exchanged, but never by voice telephone. Repeated arrangements to meet were mysteriously cancelled by the man, but only after the daughter arrived at the arranged time and place.

Rick’s investigation revealed that the man actually was a woman stalker posing as a man, using photos taken from the Internet to present her image as a man and secretly shadowing the daughter, even joining her health club. Rick identified the woman, her employer, the man whose photos she was using, and much of her personal history.

Rick then arranged to confront the poser, and put an immediate end to the charade.

Rick served three terms as president of the Professional Private Investigators Association of Colorado, Inc., (PPIAC.)

Colorado is one of a handful of states that do not License or otherwise regulate private investigators, as a result, Rick led a major PPIAC effort to obtain licensing, first via a proposal and model legislation submitted to the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, which must rule on the need for licensing, and then via an effort in the Colorado Legislature to pass the enabling legislation.

Because Colorado does not regulate private investigators, Rick is the founder and president of the Private Investigators Academy of the Rockies, a school for new and prospective investigators. It’s an introductory but comprehensive 18-hour course focusing on everything from how to set up and run a business to the major components of typical investigations, with an emphasis throughout the course on the law and ethics.