Can a police offcier search your car...?

Question

When you get pulled over for speeding, can a police officer legally search your vehicle for anything? What are the limitations for searching a car without a warrant?

Answer 1

Yeppers.........

Let me help you out here.

When you get pulled over for speeding.......you are being stopped for suspicion of committing a crime (speeding).

That crime (speeding) can lead to an arrest (ticket - yes a ticket is an arrest it's just not a "custodial arrest").

Police are allowed to make a search for officer safety and make a search incident to an arrest (your ticket).

The limitations are generally limited to those areas accessible to the passengers of the automobile and would not include the trunk or a locked glove compartment. However, if the occupant (s) give consent or a K-9 smells something funny, those areas may be opened as well. In addition, if the vehicle is going to be towed from the scene; an inventory will be made of the vehicle including any locked areas.

List of resources below........

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

The police can "Search" open and unlocked parts of your vehicle, accessible by opening doors and windows, without a warrant. Anything you have in those places is considered "in plain sight" for legal purposes, and could serve as an immediate threat to the officer (if they can get to it easily, so can you).

What the police can't do, without a warrant, is search locked storage compartments like your trunk. They can ask if you'd open them ("Hey, do you mind opening the trunk?"), but you are not obliged to. The moment you open those, they become "in plain sight," and are subject to search without warrant.

Be advised, if you refuse to open the trunk (or another compartment), that may be considered suspicious, and the officer can then detain you long enough to attain a warrant, call for backup, or take other action. If a police dog hits on a locked compartment, that is a legally acceptable reason for the police to force the compartment open.

Most officers will not bother with searching your car when you're pulled over for speeding, unless you've done something, or they've seen something, to make them suspicious. Despite popular thought to the contrary, most police officers are not out give you a hard time, make your life miserable, and generate paperwork for themselves. The side of the road is a dangerous place, and most will not spend any more time there than is necessary to do their job and make sure you're not a danger to the community.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Yes they can search your car. The cops do it whether you are aware of it or not. Courts have addressed this question many times and the usual guideline is that, "whenever an officer has reasonable cause to conduct a search and whenever it appears that such a search is consistent with good police work", they may search your vehicle without a warrant, whether under suspicious circumstances or whether incidental to an arrest. Automobiles are highly mobile and can be moved easily and quickly so that evidence is destroyed or removed from its original location before a warrant can be obtained. There are other considerations that include consent and they include: 1) The person was informed of or indicated a knowledge of the right to refuse admittance to a search, 2) The person consenting understood that his/her rights and knowingly consented to the search, 3) The waiver was given in a clear and positive manner, 4) The waiving party was in a legal position to give consent, and 5) The consent was free of duress or coercion.

Answer 5

Yes, but if he does not have cause to search he can not....You can say no when he asks you the question, and he cannot search the car. He would probably then get a K-9 Officer to come sniff the outside of the car, if the K-9 hits on the car, he now has probable cause to search then.

Answer 6

They have to have a search warant under the 4th amendment
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires that searches and seizures conducted under governmental authority be "reasonable". Toward that end, the amendment specifies that judicially sanctioned search and arrest warrants must be supported by probable cause and be limited in scope according to specific information supplied by a person (usually a peace officer) who has sworn by it and is therefore accountable to the issuing court.

The amendment applies only to governmental actors; it does not guarantee to people the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures conducted by private citizens or organizations. More specifically, the Bill of Rights only restricts the power of the federal government, but the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the Fourth Amendment is applicable to state governments by operation of the Fourteenth Amendment.[1] Moreover, all state constitutions contain an analogous provision. For an example, see Article 1, § 7 of the Tennessee Constitution.

The Supreme Court has said that some searches and seizures may violate the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness requirement even if a warrant is supported by probable cause and is limited in scope.[2] Conversely, the Court has approved routine warrantless seizures, for example "where there is probable cause to believe that a criminal offense has been or is being committed."[3] Thus, the reasonableness requirement and the warrant requirement are somewhat distinct.

Regarding the Fourth Amendment's reasonableness requirement, it applies not just to a search in combination with a seizure, but also applies to a search without a seizure, as well as to a seizure without a search.[4] Hence, the amendment is not limited to protecting elements of privacy or personal autonomy, but rather applies pervasively to virtually all aspects of criminal law. Nevertheless, the amendment is not so broad as to replace other constitutional provisions, such as replacing the Eighth Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual" punishment with a more sweeping ban on "unreasonable" punishment.

The Fourth Amendment was needed because the writs of assistance had alarmed the country, and had inspired citizens to demand their rights. Congress recognized those demands, and so we have the Fourth Amendment today. But does the word "unreasonable" mean unreasonable according to the people of 1789, or according to people today, or according to judges, or according to juries? This question has not been definitively answered. However, to the extent that the Fourth Amendment is used for purposes of striking down statutes, the framers expected that the standard of review would be clear and irreconcilable variance with the Fourth Amendment

Answer 7

Get a No Cost Background Check Scan at https://bitly.im/aNKvL

Its a sensible way to start. The site allows you to do a no cost scan simply to find out if any sort of data is in existence. A smaller analysis is done without cost. To get a detailed report its a modest payment.

You may not realize how many good reasons there are to try and find out more about the people around you. After all, whether you're talking about new friends, employees, doctors, caretakers for elderly family members, or even significant others, you, as a citizen, have a right to know whether the people you surround yourself with are who they say they are. This goes double in any situation that involves your children, which not only includes teachers and babysitters, but also scout masters, little league coaches and others. Bottom line, if you want to find out more about someone, you should perform a background check.

Answer 8

If the officer has probable cause, they can search your vehicle without a warrant.
If the officer suspects that you have contraband in your car and you do not give him permission, they can have a narcotics dog brought to the traffic stop location. If the narcotics dog signals on drugs in the vehicle, they then have probable cause to conduct a search.

Answer 9

they have to establish probable cause. if you read the bill of rights the police can't search your house, property or your effects without a warrant unless they can make a case. for instance, if you were speeding it might be you were on your way to a drug bust. if they catch you drunk, or smelling like coke and pot or they see bottles and beer cans they will have no problem searching you. the easiest thing is to just let them search since the system will more than likely be on the cop's side. if you haven't done anything you should be clear. also, you might want to check with the criminal lawyers in their area to be sure.

Vin

Answer 10

I believe that in most states today, a Law Officer is allowed to search your vehicle "only" if he/she can assertain that there is "probable cause"; meaning that there is something readily observable by the senses that does not appear right. The scent of "marajuana" (Sp?) would be one such example that could be considered such a situation as "probable cause". Otherwise, they can only search your vehicle with a "Search Warrant".