Shurtleff claims ‘horrific police abuse,’ DPS says proper procedure followed

ST. GEORGE – In a statement released Tuesday, the Utah Department of Public Safety said law enforcement personnel followed proper procedure Monday when they executed warrants to search the homes of former Utah Attorneys General John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff. Shurtleff, however, is telling a different story.

The former attorney general said officers were abusive to his 20-year-old son and teenage daughter Monday when they entered his Sandy home with a search warrant.

An emotional Shurtleff spoke out Tuesday on KSL NewsRadio’s “The Doug Wright Show,” saying he is upset and angry at the “horrific police abuse” committed against his family. Speaking via telephone from Washington, D.C., Shurtleff said officers in full body armor charged into his home carrying handguns and automatic weapons, pointing the weapons at his children and screaming and banging on doors. He said they burst in on his 17-year-old daughter while she was using the bathroom and ordered her into the hallway.

“When she steps out, there’s four men in body armor with weapons pointed at her chest, screaming at her to get her arms in the air, telling her to shut up,” Shurtleff said on the air.

Former Attorney General Swallow told KUTV 2 News that while he expected a search warrant would be served on his home at some point, he was surprised that officers showed up unannounced.

Officials would not say specifically what they were looking for or what they took from the homes.

The statement released by the Department of Public Safety Tuesday maintains that all correct procedures were followed when the warrants were served.

“The warrant service went according to plan and without incident,” the statement said. “These situations are stressful for all parties involved. All subjects in the warrant service locations were compliant and cooperative. Law enforcement personnel acted in accordance to policy and utilized the minimum force necessary to execute the warrants and ensure officer safety in an unknown environment.”

The criminal investigation exploring misconduct allegedly perpetrated by Swallow and Shurtleff is ongoing. Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill, Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings, the Utah Department of Public Safety and the FBI are involved in the investigation.

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13 Comments

  • Mark Vinclio June 3, 2014 at 7:13 pm

    cops wear body armour and have guns…expecially when serving warrants the same as when you were attorney general…now you are a criminal and it’s still not the cops fault. They did their job.

  • ladybugavenger June 3, 2014 at 8:21 pm

    Poor baby wanted special treatment. whaaaaa!

  • Aaron Hansen June 3, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    Agreed, that is how a militarized police force works. Its no wonder people don’t trust cops. At least you got a taste of it.

  • Tinker Toys June 3, 2014 at 9:51 pm

    The former AG had no problem sending the boys in blue to raid other people’s homes but when it’s his house he cries like a baby. Hypocrite.

  • ok June 3, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    No one really cares when a bully finally get to face his own kind. Its the kids I have simpathy for

  • Collette June 4, 2014 at 12:45 am

    Karma’s a poker playing “give me my money back” …,!
    Ed. ellipsis.

  • swallow justice June 4, 2014 at 10:44 am

    I’ve seen comparisons between John Swallow and Nixon and Clinton: http://goo.gl/l45vQF

    Is this fair?

  • COMBAT VET WHO DOES NOT "COEXIST" WELL WITH OTHERS June 4, 2014 at 12:19 pm

    Hahahaha….since when do police serving search warrants have to give advanced notice of them coming to your house? So you can have the time to make sure you destroy and/or remove evidence???? Really?!?!? Did Shurtleff give the same consideration to warrant recipients his officers served? They will ultimately find evidence of him and Swallow doing something illegal……is my prediction.

    • Tony Johnson June 18, 2014 at 4:40 am

      I disagree. I think the use of no kock raids is overuse and overblown. Searching someone’s trash and then that says he smells weed is all it takes for a no knock raid. That’s just nonsense. Just because they say there’s illegal activity in the house does not mean there is

  • Native born New Mexican June 4, 2014 at 4:13 pm

    Police and law enforcement should not behave this way ever, to anyone.. That being said I have been on the receiving end of Mr.Shurtleff and his buddies actions. Mr. Shurtleff should be able to recall the arrests that were made at the Salt Lake county Republican convention back in 1998. Freedom of speech ended up winning out in court despite Mr. Shurtleff and his friends. I really want to say – how does it feel? What I will say is Law enforcement should not behave this way; not to me; not to Mr. Shurtleff and not to anyone. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/687669/Conservative-newsmakers-to-return-to-GOP-convention.html?pg=all

  • THAT GUY June 5, 2014 at 2:59 am

    Boo fricken hoo that is the way all search warrants are served, so suck it up butter cup and grow a pair. No body should be treated any diffrent no special privileges because you think you are above the law. The justice system works it is rolling along nicely. They do not pass out warrants like candy. They have something on you. So try this special privileges crap in prison and I am sure your fellow inmates will be happy to oblige you!

  • Joanna June 5, 2014 at 10:11 am

    Mr. Shurtleff I hope you know how much support you have from the community. Rest assured, we are all playing our tiny violins for you…

  • BSMETER June 5, 2014 at 3:22 pm

    It shouldn’t matter who is the subject of abuse by the police. Abuse is abuse. Once we as a people start to accept this as normal behavior, we have lost our freedom.

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