The days of police officers relying on “what we’ve heard” and leaning on “we’ve always done it
that way” are over! Police officers must know what the courts have deemed acceptable
procedure in order to perform their duties in a constitutionally compliant manner in today’s
modern policing. Having an in-depth knowledge of case law will lay the foundation to empower
all police officers to perform their jobs confidently and legally. Throughout this course intended
for Utah police officers, Instructor Zach Miller will examine, review, and explain significant U.S.
Supreme Court and Utah state specific Case Law that is relevant to search and seizure. The
goal of this course is to demonstrate how this case law can affect how police officers must
perform their duties. Miller will teach students how to avoid evidence exclusion, increase
convictions, and reduce civil liability, and he will share his own personal experiences of actively
applying case law to his policing.
Furthermore, “Utah Case Law That All Cops Need to Know” breaks down the complex issues
associated with case law and presents them in an easily understandable format for all police
officers to use in the field to achieve their investigative goals. Additionally, all the students
attending the course will be given all the materials for this course so they will be able to
reference cases during their duties.
A highly-respected police legal instructor and a police officer since 2004, Zach Miller
specializes in federal and state constitutional law. Since 2009, Zach has worked very closely
with nationally-recognized police law attorney Randy Means. Together, they have contracted
with agencies nationwide on a vast array of projects requiring legal expertise and
specialization. For example, they worked with several law enforcement agencies, including two
of the largest sheriff’s departments in the country, that were subject to federal intervention
due to their unconstitutional practices. There, they developed training programs and policies
to address the federal government’s justifiable concerns. Other projects have included use of
force incident review, high-liability policy development and leadership training. Zach and
Attorney Means have also co- authored numerous articles about constitutional policing for Law
and Order magazine.