If you arrest someone, can you automatically search them?

Question

I'm just wondering... if a police officer arrests someone are they automatically allowed to search them? What about their car? I'm pretty sure if you arrest someone for a driving-related crime you're allowed to search their car, but what if you arrest them for something else (eg: drug possession) and they're in their car or their car is nearby? Are you allowed to search it? What about their house?
I'd really like sources but i'd like any help I can get!
Thanks! =)

Answer 1

The "No Name" guy got it mostly right.

Of course there has to be "probable cause" to make the arrest in the first place or any evidence found subsequent to an unlawful arrest is inadmissable, the "fruit of the poisoned tree" doctrine.

A bodily search incident to arrest is legal. If the car is going to be impounded for"safe keeping" an inventory of the contents of the vehicle is performed. Anything found during the inventory can be used as evidence.

Exigent circumstances usually don't apply in situations subsequent to an arrest since the person is in custody and the vehicle can be impounded.

If the search of the house was a result of information obtained due to the arrest they would usually need a warrant to search it.

In law enforcement the only rule is that there are exceptions to all the rules.

Answer 2

In Canada:

We are allowed (and are supposed to) search every person who is arrested, for evidence and for anything that might harm the police or the arrestee or would allow them to escape (handcuff key). This kind of search is granted through common law.
The vehicle search would depend on the type of offence they are arrested for. If they are arrested for DUI you are allowed to search the area where they were sitting in the car and everywhere that was within their reach while in the car (which is almost anywhere but the trunk). If it is a drug trafficking charge the search can be extended to the trunk (case law supported). If the car was just nearby, you would need a warrant to search the car (for drugs).
-If the person is arrested in a house, once again you can search the immediate area they were in when they were arrested (like the couch cushions they were sitting on), any other searches must be done with a warrant. There are exceptions to this if there are exigent circumstances and if someone's safety is at risk (firearms in house duing domestic).

The law of search is a complicated one and there are several authorities under which we act. In Canada we have search authorities under
Common law
Liquor licence act
Highway traffic act
Criminal code
Fish and game act
Coroner's act
and others I can't think of right now. I would suggest you look up search authorities for your area and see what you get.

Case law has a huge impact on police searches. For example, just recently there was case law about what is called "hot pursuit". A drunk driver left an accident scene and went home. Normally there would not be much we could do if the person refused to come to the door when the police showed up (by the time they got a warrant the guy would be sober). Case law has now told us that if you know the person has arrived home (by talking to witnesses for example) within the last 15-20 minutes or so, you can call that hot pursuit and go into the house to search for the person, even if you personnally didn't see him/her run in.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

not only are police officers allowed to search someone they arrest, but they are OBLIGATED to. If for no other reason, officer safety. Before an officer puts someone in their cruiser, or takes them to jail processing, he better know what that person has on them in the form of weapons or anything else illegal.

If that person is sitting in their car, the area of the car around them (called the immediate grab area) can also be searched. If the car needs to be towed because it's on someone else's property or on the road, then an inventory of the vehicle will also be done by the officer.

Other than the inventory search the person and vehicle search are called "a search incident to arrest" and are exceptions to the warrant rule, IE. is done without a warrant.

Answer 5

Yes, you will automatically be searched it's called search incident to arrest. If you were found possessing drugs be prepared for a body cavity check as well.

Your car will be searched if you were in it. It can be legally searched where you were sitting and anywhere the officer can claim you could reasonably reach from where you were sitting.

Your home cannot be searched without a warrant except in extreme cases. Very extreme.

However, the cops will get around the search criteria for the vehicle by calling for a tow truck to remove the vehicle after your arrest. Then they are authorized to do an inventory of the vehicle to document the contents. Of course, if this "inventory" yields evidence it is admissable.

Answer 6

Yes. This is called a "Search Incident to Arrest" or possibly an "Inventory Search" of a vehicle prior to it being impounded or towed. Generally speaking, an officer may search the person being arrested and the general area around them (usually their car) immediately after an arrest for his own safety, or to make an inventory of items in the car if the owner is going to be separated from it for a while. An officer may also do a pat down of you for his own safety if he stops to question you, or if you call him for help (keep that in mind). If an officer spots something illegal in your car or home in Plain Sight (drug, paraphernalia, dismembered body), he has probable cause to search further.

In the situation you described -drug arrest, car is nearby - the proximity of the car to the arrested person, evidence the arrested person had recently occupied or operated that car and the eventual disposition of the car (towed or left there) would all be factors in the court's determining if items found inside it were admissible as evidence.

Answer 7

If you are arrested, regardless of what the offense, typically the subject is searched immediately. Mostly for officer safety.

If you are stopped for a traffic offense, or the police want to search your house then they need a search warrant; and in order to obtain a search warrant they must have probable cause that a crime has or is about to be committed.

Occasionally there are instances when a warrant isn't needed, these are called exigent circumstances. In short that means evidence can be lost while waiting to obtain a warrant.

Of course if you asked if your vehicle can be searched you have the right to say no, assuming you aren't in custody, but they can also detain you while they are waiting for the warrant.

Answer 8

Its called, "Search Incident to Arrest" and yes its legal to pat or frisk search a person's person. An officer may also search the drivers compartment of a vehicle incident to an arrest. You can find out more about search and seizure at the Library of Congress website.

Answer 9

if they have just cause, ie, saw a drug deal take place, witnessed a break and enter, the police have police powers they do not exceed the law themselves, however if they feel they have reasonable cause they can search a person or a car for anything that might pose a risk to public safety.

Answer 10

The Best advice would be to log onto www.georgetowncle.org or send an E-Mail to: [e-mail], and type in your query as 4th Amendment/warrantless searches and seizures.
The Laws vary from State to State but for a general summary;
Probable Cause and/or Exigent Circumstances must be present in order to search and/or seize without a warrant.
GOD BLESS/GOOD LUCK!!