DEAR SGT. AL: WHAT RIGHTS DO THE COPS HAVE TO SEARCH A CAR WITHOUT A WARRANT?

DEAR SERGEANT AL: What right do you guys have to search a car without a warrant when you need one to search my house? –STOP AND FRISK ME ONLY IF YOU’RE PRETTY

DEAR SAFMOIYP: Good question. The answer requires an answer that probably is better explained by a lawyer, so if there was a problem please go speak to one, but since I play a cop only on the Internet I’ll try my best to answer as briefly, easily, and concisely as I can from a cop's perspective. Legal eagles out there chime in please if at any part I botch this up.

 Lets start with the holy grail of American civil rights, and that’s the 4^th Amendment to the United States Constitution:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. [1]”

This is a cornerstone of what makes our country so special and different than places like China or Syria. The above words are law, and they actually do mean something, and for the most part, we at least try to enforce them with mostly success and occasional failure. But no other country can beat our record, which is why I think we are the envy of the world in the league of democracies. What these words mean above in short, is that unless someone calls 911 under genuine pretenses, which automatically allows the police entry into a premise absent exceptional circumstances, the police need to go to the nearest court, and get permission from a judge by explaining why they need to gain entry into a premise to seize a person, place, or thing. Their reason must be based on the idea backed with evidence that something seems likely to happen, also called probable cause, that something is afoot that they need access to seize whomever or whatever it is. Like everything else in life however, to every rule, there is an exception. One of them we just stated is a 911 call, also called the emergency exception. No warrant is usually needed for the police to enter; in fact they can use force to enter as it is considered an emergency. And calling to cancel does not cancel the right of entry. The police still MUST enter to ensure that all is OK.

 

Another exception that the founders didn’t anticipate was the automobile. You can call it a premise like a home or business, but the problem is that because a vehicle is mobile, it has less of an expectation of privacy. You can’t secure it like a building, except for an RV you generally don’t live in it, fruits of a crime can easily be secreted from the police, and it could even be used as a weapon or hide a weapon. So the courts over the last 130 years since the auto’s invention had to pare down the rights people expect in vehicles that they have in a premise. 

To answer your question more directly there are six U.S. Supreme Court landmark cases, which allow the police a warrantless vehicle search that they just don’t have with a premise. This is called the automobile exception:

Carroll v. U.S.,  1925. Establishes the idea that you can search a car without a warrant.

Chambers v. Maroney, 1970. Ditto, and the police can move the car somewhere else beforehand.

New York v. Belton, 1981. Police can warrantless search a car incident to an arrest.

U.S. v. Ross, 1982. Can warrantless search a car and a closed container inside.

Thornton v. U.S., 2004. Ditto, and can search incident to arrest in or out of vehicle.

Arizona v. Gant, 2009. Narrows the scope of search incident to arrest with a car.

If you have something to hide in your car, then this becomes a scene that you won't want to see . . .

I won’t bore you further with details, as you can look up these cases yourself. Suffice to say, if a police officer has probable cause to believe a crime has been or is about to be committed, he can search your vehicle, and even after you’re arrested, he can search the car for fruits of the crime and/or contraband (drugs and/or weapons). He can search the unsecured areas of the car, including the glove box (unlocked), bags or luggage (unlocked), and the trunk. If you refuse a voluntary search, he can call for a K-9. If the K-9 gives him the heads-up sign in dog speak that something is afoot with your car, then that constitutes probable cause to search. This is how they can circumvent your lack of consent, and break locks open to find what they need. After taking the vehicle into custody after the arrest, the police can do a full inventory search of the car. The purpose of the search is to voucher the car and its contents, not to seek evidence, but whatever they find is fair game. This is another instance where they can break open the trunk and glove/storage boxes, and locked luggage, and they can charge you with whatever it is they find.

When a motorhome/RV/camper is in this mode, the police tactic is usually about a WARRANTLESS search of the vehicle on probable cause, and when needed. 

The only time that the police need a warrant to enter your car is when the car is unoccupied, secured, and parked or at anytime when it would be appropriate to get a warrant. With RV’s, they also have to be careful, but not always. If the RV is parked and pitched in a park, the RV becomes more like a home. If it is on the road in the process of travel, then skies are just about the limit with warrantless searches. In any case where the police need to search a stationary car, they will have an officer watch the car to establish a chain of custody while they go to court (or call a judge to obtain a phone warrant or by fax) to secure a warrant. If time is of the essence, once they have the warrant, they may not even wait until the warrant is at the scene to radio ahead to search the car.

When a camper/RV/motorhome is in this mode, and depending on the circumstances, the police tactic may err on the side of caution, establish a chain of custody by putting an officer at the premise, bar further entry or mobilization,  and secure a warrant.

 SO I hope this lays the case why you should not put contraband or weapons in your car. If you have nothing to hide, then you’ll have nothing to worry about. If you do not want the police searching anything in your car that badly, just don’t put it in the car, and if you must, lock it in a container in the trunk or wrap it and put a stamp on it to mail it. This way, unless the container/package has contraband to create reasonable suspicion, the police will need a warrant to open it with probable cause. Do not consent to a search if you don’t want to, especially if the car is not yours, you not sure what is in the car, and you do not want the police looking in your things. Sometimes the police won’t have probable cause, but may ask you to search voluntarily just to see what your reaction is going to be to a search request. If you haven’t done anything wrong, they will not have any probable cause to believe something is afoot, and thus no reason to search. If you have a legit firearm, but not a concealed carry permit, for the officer’s and your safety, carry the firearm unloaded in a lockbox in the trunk. Never carry a firearm in the passenger area; that is inviting danger for everyone.

 A car stop search, depending on the vehicle, must be conducted within a reasonable amount of time. I have conducted car stop searches on the highway that have lasted well over an hour, including wait time for assistance, and that’s considered reasonable. Some resulted in tickets, a warning, sometimes an arrest, depending on how clever the detainee was that I stopped, or how badly I wanted to arrest the detainee. Sometimes I order another officer to drive the vehicle to another location to conduct the search.

So SAFMOIYP, I am CITING you with a WARNING: be prepared to be laughed at if you ask an officer for a warrant on the side of the road if you are stopped and he wants to search your car. He doesn’t even have to wait for you to seek advice from a lawyer. If I were you I would ask why and what he is looking for, but would be very leery to consent unless that was my own car to know where it has been and what was in it to absolute certainty to prove that I had nothing to hide. I would even be weary with a rented car; did you check that rental car thoroughly to know what’s in it or what another renter left behind? If you are ever in a situation where your car has been searched and you're not sure if probable cause existed, speak to an attorney who can determine if the police were within their authority to search. But remember, that the law does give them wider latitude under those circumstances. I hope this answers your question. Good luck.

Related Reading:

PART 1: How to Avoid a Traffic Ticket: Situational Awareness

PART 2: How to Avoid a Traffic Ticket: Arrest Speed

PART 3: How to Avoid a Traffic Ticket: Beware of What You Drive

PART 4: How to Avoid a Traffic Ticket: Detector, Jammers, and Apps

PART 5: How to Avoid a Traffic Ticket: Know What Cop Cars Look Like

PART 6: How to Avoid a Traffic Ticket: You Can’t Run and Only the Cops Can Hide

PART 1: How to FIGHT a Traffic Ticket: Preparing a Plan of Action Right at the Car Stop

PART 2: How to FIGHT a Traffic Ticket: Evidence Collection

PART 3: How to FIGHT a Traffic Ticket: Schedule a Court Date then Delay Delay Delay

PART 4: How to FIGHT a Traffic Ticket: When and when not to Lawyer Up

PART 5: How to FIGHT a Traffic Ticket: How to Testify in Court

PART 6: How to FIGHT a Traffic Ticket: Appeals and Final Thoughts