5 reasons a police officer may have probable cause to search your car
When a police officer pulls you over for a traffic stop, they may request to search your vehicle. Now, you’re within your rights to ask for a warrant and refuse to submit to a search. However, police officers can search your car if they have probable cause.
A police officer may search your car with sufficient probable cause or your consent
Law enforcement conducts tens of thousands of traffic stops per day. However, just because a police officer pulls you over, doesn’t mean they have probable cause to search your vehicle or confiscate your property.
According to the Leier Law Office, probable cause is the legal means to determine “sufficient grounds to justify a law enforcement action, such as an arrest, search, or seizure.” Still, an LEO isn’t allowed to search your car based on simple criteria like make, model, or color. Instead, these are five of the factors that justify a search.
- Obvious criminal activity
- Evidence of a crime in plain view
- Tip or information from a credible source
- Smell or appearance of contraband
- Following an arrest or impounding, or an “inventory” search
Let’s say a motorist gets pulled over for a moving violation or expired registration. Should the officer notice an illegal weapon or contraband, it may justify a search of the vehicle. Moreover, if a traffic stop ends in an arrest or impounding, law enforcement will conduct an inventory search of the vehicle. While the probable cause for a search is moot in this case, the arrest or vehicle seizure warrants an inventory. Of course, anything the police find in an impounded vehicle may be admissible in court. Fortunately, law enforcement training covers the vehicle exception rule for warrantless searches.
“If a law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that a readily mobile vehicle has evidence or contraband located in it, a search of that vehicle may be conducted without first obtaining a warrant.” In short, a police officer may not even require a warrant to conduct a search with the vehicle exemption, per the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).
