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Ken Wallentine

Law Enforcement and the Law

Ken Wallentine is the chief of the West Jordan (Utah) Police Department and former chief of law enforcement for the Utah Attorney General. He has served over four decades in public safety, is a legal expert and editor of Xiphos, a monthly national criminal procedure newsletter. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Death and serves as a use of force consultant in state and federal criminal and civil litigation across the nation.

LATEST ARTICLES
“We think that the use of force remains reasonable after a suspect employs a weapon, has not surrendered, and thus remains dangerous.”
The appellate court held the law was sufficiently clear and that the officer “should have known he could not use deadly force on an unarmed man in a parked car.”
SCOTUS has rejected the argument “that reasonable cause for an investigative stop can only be based on the officer’s personal observation, rather than on information supplied by another person”
A court rules that an officer was justified in handcuffing a subject during a detector dog sniff
It is proper for an officer to conduct a cursory inspection of adjoining spaces without probable cause or reasonable suspicion
Assessing the totality of the circumstances, a court holds the plain view exception applied and the officers’ search of a vehicle was lawful
The court restated the well-established law that an officer’s observance of a traffic violation, no matter how minor, gives the officer probable cause to initiate a stop
K-9
The court noted the “vast difference” between providing a warning before releasing a dog to search off-lead and not giving a warning while searching with a leashed dog
As long as an officer has a good-faith belief that the person has authority to consent, the consent will be upheld in court.
Investigation of cyberstalking, or any stalking based on communications, should start with a visit to the appropriate prosecutor for guidance on the constitutional guardrails