Richard “Rick” Root is the Owner and President of Richard Root Investigations. He has more than 38 years’ experience in law enforcement and security. He began his law enforcement career in 1982, as a Security Police Officer in the United States Air Force. During his tenure with the Air Force, he was responsible for the protection of nuclear weapons and dignitaries. While stationed at Kunsan Air Base in the Republic of Korea, Rick became the team leader and trainer for the Emergency Services Team, which is the equivalent to a police department’s S.W.A.T. unit. In 1988, he transitioned from military to civilian law enforcement. Rick joined the Boynton Beach Police Department, and in 1991 was assigned to the traffic unit. During his tenure with the traffic unit, Rick was fully trained traffic homicide investigations (THI). He was also assigned to the first DUI suppression team. During his tenure with the Boynton Beach Police Department, Rick became a use of force instructor and subsequently designated the agency’s use of force expert.
In 1998, Rick was promoted to sergeant and assumed the responsibilities of road patrol supervisor. Thereafter, he was transferred to the Training and Recruiting Unit where his leadership responsibilities expanded to included: Background Investigations, Defensive Tactics, O.C. Sprays, Impact Weapons, Firearms, and Officer Survival. He spearheaded and provided consultation on force related policies, procedures, and training. In addition to the force curriculum development, Rick’s responsibilities also included the training of newly appointed law enforcement personnel and the supervision of the Field Training Program.
In 2003, Rick was promoted to lieutenant and served as a road patrol watch commander. He was responsible for platoon level internal affairs investigations, operations, and managed numerous critical incidents. Additionally, Rick led the mobile field force team. Rick experienced many lethal force encounters and served as the department’s expert witness on cases involving the use of force by police officers.
After retiring, Rick joined the largest American-owned security company in the United States. He progressively excelled because of his work ethic and expertise. Rick functioned as the organization’s Regional Operations Manager, in the State of Florida. In this role, he was responsible for supporting regional operations in quality assurance, learning and development, emergency response and contingency planning, $120 Million in revenue, and 4,000 employees. As District Manager, Rick was responsible for district operations with a $19 million dollar budget, servicing the needs of 58 clients and a workforce of over 650 employees, including managers, supervisors and security officers. Rick oversaw investigations both internally and externally for operational and employee issues.
Rick graduated from the Southern Police Institutes 33rd Command Officer Development Course at the University of Louisville. He has also completed training in various security vertical markets; such as, residential, higher education, healthcare and commercial real estate security.
Since 2017, Rick has served as the President for the Florida Association of Licensed Investigators (FALI), which is the second-largest private investigator association in the nation. Under Rick’s leadership, FALI worked with legislators on Sales Tax issues affect the profession and Human Trafficking initiatives. Rick was also instrumental in the development of FALI’s Child Sex Trafficking Task Force (FALI’s CST Task Force). The CST Task Force is a large group of investigators who volunteer their time to assist in locating and recovering minors trafficked for sex. Under Rick’s leadership, FALI launched the Florida Board Certified Investigator (FBCI), requiring investigators to meet specific qualification requirements to obtain the designation of FBCI, and get a minimum number of hours in industry-related courses each year to maintain the FBCI designation.