when can a cop search your car?

50 cops searching cars

Speak with a lawyer. did you get name and badge number?

To answer your question, yes, a cop ALWAYS has the right to search your car, no matter what his/her reasons are . If you say no, then they have the right to tow away and impound your car, all at your expense.

The best way to deal with cops is be polite and cooperate. The goal is to get them to finish thier business with you as quickly as possible and move on.

Acting like a dumbass and getting an attitude is only going to make them fuck with you more.

Exactly, they have the upper hand and people have to remember that.

Even if a cop kills someone there is a great chance they walk free even if the person shot was inocent.

Sad but true.

you can afford a lexus, but not the registration on it?

This is one of those gray areas.

If you went to court by yourself, you would lose 100% of the time.

If you paid big bucks for a lawyer, you would win 100% of the time.


I have had so many of these arrests its not even funny.

Pulled over for any number of reasons. ( broken lights etc etc. )

Then they search the car ,find some drugs , guns etc.

Bam your in jail, bail out the next day , hire a lawyer, he claims invasion of civil liberty , , court case is thrown out.

Cops can do just about anything they want, who do you think the Judge is going to believe , the cop.


I got pulled over one night, I had driven from NC to NJ the cop asked me to step out of the car so I did and the next thing I know I have cuff on then he asked me to search my car. I said "NO" well the next thing I know I'm in jail and my car gets towed.


They found a joint, so it was $3000 cash to get me out and $200 to get my car out. We go to court and I plead guilty to loitering and not having my seat belt on.

Misinformation galore. They can only search your vehicle if: they have either "probable cause", you're on probation/parole in which you gave up your right to the Fourth Amendment, you're stopped for an offense which leads to an arrest (DUI). Definition of probable cause is clearly broad and if the cops don't really have probable cause but they decide to search anyways, then any evidence found would easily be thrown out in Court.

Yes they can if they have probable cause.He already pulled you over for a busted light and he stated you reacted suspiciously.
That wouldn't look good to a judge saying no to a search.

I don't care what color you are...... These cops are making $40k a year and getting shot at. Be thankful you don't live in Mexico where they will make you empty out your wallet and take what they want.

I was busted with twelve sacks of weed some years ago. It was a felony possession with intent to distribute. I got off because the courts never got around to drug testing the substance because their lab was backed up. The cops got my weed right as I was in my own apartment parking lot.

a few months later, the same cop that busted me pulled me over as I was going to the liquor store. His first words were "Do you remember me"? I told him yeah and the second thing he said was "Do you have any weapons in the car?"

Of course I said I didn't and then he asked if I minded if he could check and I said YES I mind. I'm about to go to the liquor store and I don't have time to get searched. He then just wrote me a ticket and let me leave. Now this is the SAME cop who watched me smile at him while I walked out of the courtroom after the last charge was thrown out.

HE wouldn't dare put me in a cop car and search my shit without my consent. For one, we weren't on a backroad in Oklahoma. We were in a shopping plaza parking lot in Hyattsville,MD (a minority suburb right up the street from WAshington,,DC). And there were people all around who would have witnessed it.

You must have gotten stopped where there was nobody else around. Otherwise, if you tell the fucker NO, and you have your drivers license and plates in order, he can't legally do shit.

Now maybe it's because I had a jew lawyer who got me off the first time and he now knew that I could afford a good lawyer. If he thought that I was just a poor black ignorant basterd, he might have searched the car. But his experience with me in court helped him learn not to fuck with me.

Make you empty your wallet?

They do it for ya no questions asked

I only read a portion of this thread so I might be redundant here.

I practiced criminal defense for almost 5 years prior to working for SCORE. 4th Amendment (search and seizure) issues represent some of the bulk of criminal defense work, next to making sure your clients pay you :-)

There are two ways to look at this, the way the law is suppose to work and the way it actually works. Many here have stated various versions of the way the law is suppose to work, which is the police must have a good reason to search you.

The problem is that in reality, the police are able to practice what one cop told me "corrective flexible justice". Good cops seem to have a sixth sense as to when someone is up to no good. Be it the mannerisms of the party they are talking to or just internal radar, the best cops seem to get an idea when something is amiss. What they seem to do is get the person out of the car and then they just search. If they find nothing they send the person on their way. If they find something like drugs or weapons, they then will figure out a way to make the search compliant with the law. For example
" Smelled a strong odor of marijuana"
"observed the butt handle of the firearm sticking out from under the seat"
" Defendant gave permission to search"
Etc etc.

The main problem with vehicle searches though is that time and time again the courts have not extended protection to vehicles that you get for your home or your person. For example, if you had a shopping bag in your trunk it is likely to be searched if they were to arrest you on a suspended license charge. Inventory search thats called. If you were arrested at your home for battery on a spouse, that same shopping bag in your closet would have an expectation of privacy and would not be subject to a search.

In general if you want something to be private, dont expect it to be if its in your car. The trend has been in the last 10 years for there to be less and less expectation of privacy in a car.

Here are some suggestions that could limit the officers acting unfairly against you:

1) #1 with a bullet. Treat the officers with respect. Dont be an asshole or show your abject disgust at their illegal stops, searches or seizures. Dont tell them you are going to file any charges even if you plan to. In fact you are better off saying as little as possible. This is not the time and place for that kind of action.

2) Remember cops deal with complete losers with no respect for life every day so keep your hands where they can see them and dont be doing things like stuffing papers or items away. If its not illegal but just embarrassing, its better to just leave everything where they are.

3) Dont resist even if you believe you are innocent as this usually escalates the issue to possible BLEO or RAWV charges both of which are serious felonies and will likely get you beat up as well as charged. Dont ever touch the officers for any reason. Not their shoulders, nothing. This will likely get you injured and charged.

4)Remember officers names and badges. Try not to be too obvious with this recording of information. If possible try to get witnesses to the illegal search. The presence of witnesses usually chills the activities of the police but most illegal searches happen on roads with no one around.

5) File written charges against police officers. The presence of complaints against the officers for illegal searches or just plain bad conduct is useful if not for yourself but for future defendants. A long list of charges against an officer has a way of chilling their behavior or IA will desk them.

[Dave now takes off his old attorney cap and puts on his big tits rus cap again}

hahaha

I just had my parents speak with our family lawyer and it was a justified search. I even called the oklahoma city police department as well two surrounding town police stations and they said that since he labeled what I was doing as suspicious behavior, then that gave him a right to search my car. Why he asked me for permission before he searched my car and I, who knows. All this over a tag light that I didn't even know existed. I will still be filing a complaint against the two officers for being assholes to me during the entire ordeal.

they can't search my car ever cos I don't have one

but in uk they can search you if they have some suspision so they make some shit up like they saw you putting out a joint or something and do it

Don't you have to have proof of this dialog actually happening?

cops can now stop your car at a roadblock if any unsolved crime has been committed in the area in the last few months, thanks to asshat Republicans.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/bre...p-135915c.html

sure am glad we got ol' GW Bush to shrink the government and make the citizens don't get bullied by the state

Cops are weapons. Whether they act justly or not depends on who's giving them their marching orders and YES they risk their lives every day against the absolute scum of the earth, so it's not really fair to blast on cops for doing their job. Blast on the lawmakers if you don't like the laws, and vote them out of office.

They can come up with all sorts of, "probable cause" excuses..

I wouldn't bother fighting it if they didn't find anything.. Won't get ya anywhere other than in their scope for future, "probable causes"

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/c...nt04/03.html#4

In California, your actions merit a search of any area in
your immediate control.

The trunk is not part of that control.

I am not saying what they did is ethical, but, that
is the way shit is done out there.

I know, did 5 years as a Police Officer in Calif,
Oakland, Ca.

Actually in most states it is legal for a cop to search sensitive areas like glove box, under the seat, or near the doors as a "Safety" to officers. So far it has been upheld by appeals and the supreme court that this does not violate your civil rights.

The cop asking for permission is a basic CYA move to prevent suits. If they went into the trunk then I think it would be hard for them to prove they had cause to search without permission. Just my 2 cents.

P.S. Don't quote me on this, I could be wrong it is just my understanding of cops rights.

V

I'd also liek to add...

If you have a pound of weed in your trunk in a paper bag. The cop can open the bag and arrest you. If you have a pound of weed in a locked breefcase the officer cannot force you to open it without a warrent.


JESUS CHRIST GANGSTER TIP #24
Keep drugs and guns in combination lock containers to ensure safe passage.

Expectation of privacy!

V

If you read my post as misinformation, then it is you that is misinformed. Although, I didnt feel like getting technical and just used "ALWAYS" instead of "probable cause", the truth is an officer can always find "probable cause" to search your car which in turn means they can "ALWAYS" search your car. In California, you do have the option of saying "No" when an officer wishes to search your car, but like I stated, then that gives the officer the right to tow away and impound your car.

If I ever get into a stiuation where I have a gun pointed at a random cops face, doesn't matter who he is, and I won't get caught, I'm pulling the trigger.

2 cops dead would be better. No wait, 5 cops. Ah hell I'd give money to al-qaeda if they promised to only kill american cops.

a police officer must have probable cause to search a vehicle.

If they didn't then they wouldn't ask to search your car.

The main reason is they try and intimadate you into consenting.

You should allways say no.

Give me a break. reaching for something? what a pig.

However it depends on what he found. A gun. Im sure the prosecution could win that argument.

However drugs , you could win that i would think.


Pigs know what people think.

It juts amazes me. when you watch cops, all the people that consent to searches.

It;s almost like a person thinks by saying yes you can search my car, that the pig will say to himself, well he agreed so he must not have anything illegal in there, and i wont search.


BULLSHIT. they will nose around every chance they get.

without reading all these posts id say this if he placed cuffs on you and into his car he could say he had placed you under arrest at whic tim e he can search your car (no matter what they arrest you for they can search) if not then yeah probably say some suspicion deal and they will let it fly

put the shit under your nuts or wrap it up and lay it up the crack of your ass. If they get to searching your asscrack, you're in jail already so fuck it.

Brings back memories of the trench coat gang.

The guy was pulled over for going 7 mph over the limit. He said no to a search. the pig still searched his trunk. found over 500,000 in cash with the wrappers of the bank he stold it from.

Since it was an illegal search it was thrown out. however his wife crumbled under pressure and told the whole story.

It is not illegal, they can search your car anytime, anywhere they want to. Probable cause doesn't even come into play anymore. I got pulled over and searched for something similar (missing tail-light). I was handcuffed and searched. The car was searched as well. The cop came across some old dried up soap and said I was going to be arrested for crack cocaine. WTF? Finally, it was tested, I was let go and two and a half hours of my life were stripped away from an overzealous cop! The only thing you can do is get his badge # and make a civil complaint!! Sucks but, true

Exactly. If cops were able to search vehicles whenever they wanted they would not ask for consent. The ignorance of people are amazing.

What a bullshit thread. Every person here is just pulling facts straight out of their asses. Either back up what you are saying with hard facts or dont talk shit.

I dont if they can search your car, but I would say go ahead and search, if I had nothing, he cant do shit to me if I have nothing.

In a videogame, sure

In real life, I bet you wouldnt have the balls to pull the trigger