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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
Many departments strongly discourage shooting at moving vehicles to disable the car
The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. The defendant claimed his friend was acting as a government agent because he intended to assist the police
Court concludes a combination of factors led officers to believe a suspect and a driver were in a “common enterprise” to possess fentanyl
Here’s the thing to remember: It is well-established law that a person can lawfully flip the bird at an officer
Although the public has a general right to observe and record police, that right is not unlimited
A recent case illustrates the legal test for assessing a department’s ability to discipline an officer on the basis of personal social media posts
The court framed its task as determining not whether officers used best police practices but whether they violated the subject’s rights under the Fourth Amendment
Opening the door and entering the vehicle exposes more of the vehicle to view and impermissibly intrudes on the driver’s privacy expectation
If you can’t be home on the holiday, do your best to carve out another day where your family gets 100% of you
Officers are frequently cautioned to slow down in approaching dangerous situations. Pause, take a moment to think when there is discretionary time