Denying an officer to search your car?

Question

I know you have a right to deny or let them search you but what usually happens after you say 'no'?

Answer 1

Usually if they want to search your vehicle it is because they suspect that you have weapons or contraband.

If you refuse, the Officer can either detain you until a search warrant is obtained, or he/she can request a narcotic sniffing K9 to check for drugs.

Answer 2

Its your right to say "no" to a vehicle search, and I don't have a problem with that. I'm not just going to go ahead and search anyway (neither is any officer that I know), waste of everyone's time, cos anything found will be tossed in court.

I usually ask for consent even if I have another legal reasons to search. It was the way I was taught, so even if you say "no" it might well be getting searched away. It kind of sucks for the driver, when they say "no", and then it gets searched away.

If I really want to get inside a car, I'll look at other ways; the main one I use is an inventory search. There are a large number of reasons that I can use to impound the vehicle. If I decide to impound, then I have the duty to search and inventory the vehicle for all contents...

Waste of everyone's time (and the drivers' money) if there's nothing in the car...especially when saying "yes" to the initial search, would allow them to drive the car away.

If I can't search then its "good bye, have a safe drive". I don't take it personally and move on to the next stop.

Answer 3

It is your right to deny an officer the right to search your car. If the officer does not have probable cause or a search warrant, he can't search it. But, due to their mobility a vehicle is easier to get into legally for an officer than a house without a search warrant. Contraband in plain view is probable cause. If you are not legal to drive or your vehicle is not legal to be on the road, he can impound it and do an inventory search. Use of a K-9 that hits on drugs etc. I can pretty much guarantee that you will get a ticket for whatever reason he stopped you for if you deny the search.

Answer 4

WHETHER YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY NO DEPENDS. NO WARRANT IS REQUIRED TO SEARCH A CAR.
ANOTHER POINT ON LAW ENFORCEMENT SIDE IS THAT CARS ARE GENERALLY EXCEPTED FROM THE ADVANCE WARRANT REQUIREMENT BECAUSE OF THEIR MOBILE NATURE.
THIS GIVES THEM THE LICENSE TO CONDUCT WARRANTLESS SEARCHES OF CARS.
AN OFFICER ONLY HAS TO MEET THAT PROBABLE CAUSE STANDARDS IN MOST INSTANCES. THIS IS PRETTY EASY TO DO. PROVING THAT AN OFFICER DID NOT IS DIFFICULT TO DO.
FOR EXAMPLE DRIVING ERRATIC OR THE SMELL OF ALCOHOL OR ANY OTHER SUSPICIOUS ODOR IS COMING FROM THE CAR WOULD BE A CAUSE FOR AN OFFICER TO SEARCH YOU OR THE VEHICLE
BUT TURNING AT A RED LIGHT DOES NOT. IN THAT CASE HE CAN GIVE YOU A TICKET FOR THAT VIOLATION BUT NOTHING ELSE.

Answer 5

Never give the police consent to search your car. It doesn't matter if you have something to hide or not. It is just good sense. I am a law enforcement officer, and I wouldn't. Tell them to get a warrant, if they can. If they don't have a warrant within 15 minutes, ask/tell them that you are going to leave.
And, I might add, I have nothing to hide. We still have rights in this country, and chief among them is the right to be free from illegal search and seizure.

Answer 6

Depends on a vast array of things. I usually won't ask for consent unless I've got no other option. If I have another means to search your car (i.e. search incident to arrest, probable cause, etc.). Then I just do it. If you tell me no then I usually just finish the traffic stop and go about my business. If I think you have drugs and K-9 is near I may have the flea bag walk around your car before cutting you lose. If the dog hits then I own you.

Answer 7

If someone has nothing to hide then they should just let them search the car. I have been pulled over late at night and allowed them to search my car. I had nothing to hide. If someone is hiding something then that's the persons own stupidity for breaking the law.

Sorry, just being honest here. If you are going to break the law, be prepared to take responsibility for your actions.

Answer 8

They will make you pay for that, one way or another. Strange things can happen, you could be found to be in possession of drugs, which they will find when they search your pockets, or they will "see" drugs inside your car.

It doesn't pay to irritate the "man". You are the one that is going to lose in the end. If you are carrying something you don't want them to find, then hide it well. Chances are that they will not find it, and they'll be happy that you gave them the right to search your car. They also won't be looking all that hard then, since they figure that they won't find anything, because you gave them permission.

If they caught you, then they caught you. Just deny that anything they find is yours. Ask for a lawyer, and don't answer any more questions until the lawyer is present.

You'll be arrested either way, in that case.

good luck.

Answer 9

If he has no justifiable reason to search your car, he'll try to find one. Always ask what his reason for searching against your will is, and how he came to that reasoning . . . any evidence he finds (if you can show that his probable cause was falsified, or wasn't probable cause) can be thrown out.

Police often try this.

And to the guy who said, "If you don't have anything to hide, why not just let him search the car and be on your way?"

Because . . . that's what police are hoping for -- if they know that you'll contest it -- if they know that you know your rights -- they won't take advantage of you quite as much.

And -- because it isn't the police officer's job to protect your constitutional rights -- it's your job. . . if you don't use them - you lose them (literally . . .).

Answer 10

They'll find "reasonable cause" you can get that a number of ways, they can smell drugs or alcohol on you, or in your vicheal, your acting weird, your nervous, you have just left a known drug area, your driving erratically...the list goes on