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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
Even though the appellate court held the subject was not seized, the court noted that the troopers had reasonable suspicion to detain her on suspicion of drug trafficking
Court rules that troopers had independent lawful bases to stop a defendant for a traffic violation and investigate drug trafficking based on collective knowledge doctrine
In this case, the court rules the suspect knew he had a choice and decided to speak anyway
K-9
The officers’ reasonable belief the subject could have been armed, coupled with his refusal to obey their commands to turn away, justified the use of the dog
Surely it would be utter foolishness to ignore a person walking up to a school with a rifle slung on her back and a handgun and other items on a gun belt. Here’s what a court had to say
Courts may be open to some truly minimal “negligibly burdensome” delay
After Michael Friend made a sign reading “Cops Ahead,” an officer arrested him for “interfering” with a distracted driving investigation – here’s how the court ruled after Friend sued
This case illustrates how good police work can easily be marred by failing to secure a warrant
The court noted probable cause “is not a high bar: It requires only the kind of fair probability on which reasonable and prudent people, not legal technicians, act.”
If you’ve never written an affidavit for a search warrant, now is the time to learn