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

SWAT

Did noise-flash distraction device amount to excessive force on 2-year-old?

A trial court denied qualified immunity when SWAT officers were sued for causing PTSD to a 2-year-old child

September 16, 2019 08:38 AM

Ken Wallentine

Legal

Whether spoken or gestured, cops should usually ignore the F-bomb

Being told to f-off or anything similar may be evidence of poor breeding, but is also the burden of today’s public servants

September 10, 2019 06:20 PM

Ken Wallentine

Legal

Officer justified in shooting man with gun to his own head?

This case reminds officers of the need to give short, clear commands directing a subject to make specific movements

September 01, 2019 01:50 PM

Ken Wallentine

Legal

Detailed facts support use of force in misdemeanor arrest

Every small detail about a suspect’s behavior and an officer’s responsive actions must be preserved on the record

September 01, 2019 01:42 PM

Ken Wallentine

Use of Force

Was electronic control device use proper? You decide!

Consider a roundtable discussion of these two cases during roll call training

July 18, 2019 11:35 PM

Ken Wallentine

Use of Force

PDs don’t accurately track use of force. Here’s how they can.

How many agencies can speak accurately and clearly about their use of force rates?

March 02, 2016 01:34 PM

Ken Wallentine

How the SCOTUS cell phone ruling happened (and 4 key lessons)

The search incident to arrest doctrine was first recognized by the Supreme Court exactly 100 years ago in Weeks v. United States

June 26, 2014 06:04 AM

Ken Wallentine

Legal

K-9 training court case: The sniff was up to snuff

The Supreme Court decision in Florida v. Harris reaffirms the value of detector dog teams as drug interdiction tools and gently reminds courts across the nation of the time-honored principles of probable cause to search

February 21, 2013 07:07 AM

Ken Wallentine

Legal

What’s in a sniff: Supreme Court considers drug dog use

Hearing arguments in Florida v. Jardines and Florida v. Harris today, the Supreme Court considers police drug dogs for the first time since the 2005 case of Illinois v. Caballes

October 31, 2012 05:52 AM

Ken Wallentine

Legal

Courts side with ACLU on videotaping police

Court rules that police cannot stop audio-video recording of officers on duty

June 04, 2012 05:17 AM

Ken Wallentine