Sunday, December 2, 2012

What Are the Powers of Police to Search Cars?


It has traditionally been thought to be true that the police require a warrant in order to search an automobile. However, in light of recent caselaw this is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain as a proposition. in out is to be the position according to the highest court in the land that the police have a range of powers and rights to be able to search automobiles without a search warrant. In many cases it will be sufficient if the police arrest a suspect and then conduct a search of the associated vehicle for contraband or for evidence of a crime for which the person is under arrest. This position is at odds with what is, expected of the rights of privacy in relation to ordinary people's expectations.

The Supreme Court recognises three distinct doctrines is committing to the power of police to search automobiles without warrants. First, a warrant has not been required so long as there is probable cause to believe that the vehicle contained contraband or evidence of a crime. This automobile exception has been greatly expanded since the early cases. For example, the court has held recently that a mobile phone capable of travelling on a highway was included within the exception and courts have also held recently that the police may use the exception to search the personal belongings of passengers but not the passengers themselves.

Second, the court has held in other recent cases that the police are allowed to automatically search an automobiles passenger compartment without a warrant after arresting an occupant of the vehicle because a criminal may hide contraband weapons in the vehicle before the arrest. The court has also held that the policemen arrest motorists for even P traffic violations, the police now have an incentive to arrest minor traffic violators in order to perform what is called a built-in search of their automobiles.

So-called inventory searches are the third doctrine in relation to police performing warrantless automobile searches. The court has held in regards to this doctrine that the police may thoroughly search vehicles that have been lawfully impounded for any reason. The court explained that such image researchers are justified to protect the owner from misappropriation and to protect the police from false claims of theft and to prevent dangerous items from being stored on police property. Taken together, the expansion of all of these exceptions have largely eliminated the expectation of privacy that American motorists may once have had in relation to the automobile.

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