Why does everyone think police need a warrant to search a car?

!~"Fish On"~!

They don't. probable cause is a good enough excuse. Just one of many loopholes in law enforcement. You're a probable cause as soon as they stop you. Forced Cooperation . So much for Free Will. A simple traffic stop becomes probable cause, the very invitation to, Search and Seizure.

iamct01

They also have the Texas warrant where the police come to the front door and knock and a officer at the back door yells "come in"

bamarules1789

You are exactly right. I get frustrated when I see that as well. The truth is half of the time, the police don't have reasonable suspicion and they still search anyway. Some people just don't know the law.

Oldvet

Why do you say "Everyone"? I don't think that at all.

reelperspectiv

They seem to use anything these days for probable cause....

Rebecca

Re-read your Fourth Amendment. While it provides a certain amount of protection against search and seizure... but it also allows for "reasonable suspicion...." searches of you, your car, your house, your property. And if they find anything, they are justified... and if they don't, well... they fall back on that "reasonable suspicion" rule. The fact that you have former arrests automatically provides them with reasonable suspicion that you are doing it again. Sorry buddy, you're marked for life.

http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/objectID/DED24689-ADA8-4785-887A0B4A19A694DE/104/143/127/ART/

waycar111

if a compartment is locked, such as a glove box or trunk. they have to have consent, or a warrant. anything within view is fair game.

BetsyF

"probable cause" that is all they need. Fragrances of illegal substance, nervous behavior(suspicious behavior) I am sure if I thought about it long enough I could give you dozens of reasons for legal searches w/out a warrant. But I am already tired of thinking.

God bless

Kevy

Because people watch too much TV.

suspendedagain300

Why do you say that "laws are different from reality"? Everything you said was right on the money, the police do not need a warrant to search your car if they have a reasonable suspicion, that IS the law. It's not like they are bending the laws in searching your car if they have a reasonable suspicion.

â™¥Saraiâ™¥

Probable cause in Texas.

â˜ Nazâ˜

Yeah.. here in California they just need probable cause and they can search all they like...

JenJen

They must have probably cause no matter what your prior conviction history. Get a lawyer.

Miss Alexis

No, no one needs a warrant. The problem is that so many people in this country think that they have rights that do not otherwise exist. They just start making up rights now. If you get pulled over by a cop, they have every allowance to search your person, tear your car apart, and leave it in pieces on the side of the road. I know, because it happened to me. And, I have no history of drugs or alcohol abuse, or anything like that. I honestly just think he was looking to fulfill his quota, but hey, what the heck, because I'd rather be searched without reason than have criminals running around that never get caught. Sometimes these "unlawful" searches turn up some real bad guys. We had one that was pulled over for speeding recently (only 2 or 3 years ago) near us. Guy had his car searched, against his will mind you, and they found his wife dead in the trunk.

*****

Because they think what they see on TV is the gospel truth, and the way things are in real life, and it is NOT.

Raymond G

because they are stupid.

Kmmv

I think they hope to try to pull the wool over the cops eyes?
They have 'rights' dammit! they just don't know what they are?
but since they do....that's gotta be one especially if they're hiding something?

nana477

i think its because if they didnt have warrants some people would take advantage of this and search people for no reason at all...( not to be confused with reasonable suspision).Not all will but some...no matter what race or ethnicity...

acid_reflux27

They only need reasonable suspeciaon true, and I agree that "reasonable suspicion" is a VERY broad term. but there is a limit between doing your job, and harassing a person. Here is how you stop them from searching your car every time you are pulled over. Every time they ask to search your car and you say no and they do it anyway .... and find NOTHING illegal, ask them what their resonable suspecian was. They will more then likely come up with some lame excuse. wheather you get a ticket or not, it doesn't matter. As soon as they let you go, head to the police station and file a harassment complant. after two or three of these, get a lawyer and press charges against the Texas police for harassment. You are INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty.... and once you have paid for a crime you cannot be held accountable for that crime again. I can understand the police harassing someone to some extend for something like child molestation because it is a dangerous and ongoing crime... but anything they search your car for is more then likely small potatoes compared to that.

Good Luck,
Jer

Whynot

I agree. But you did the right thing by saying no. A good attorney knows how to play the game.... You DID have a good attorney, didn't you??? LOL

makk

ummm your in texas...... you have different laws than a lot of other states. and cops do need to have a warrent to search your gloe box and or trunk. unless there is someone in the trunk trying to get out and making noise..... they have no right to seach those areas of the car.... no matter what

the laws are no different for you than they are anyone else. you just have to know them well and know how to get around them... in your case lock your **** up in the glove box or trunk if youre gonna burn cruise......

Mister Bon

and i should care because?

toneykuhnz

probable cause and reasonable suspicion are two different burdens of proof. probable cause is always the requirement for pulling someone over. reasonable suspicion is not enough to search your car, you need be able to articulate reasons why you need to search the car. If an officer pulls you over, thinks he smells weed and runs your 27 and 28 and see's your history, there is his probable cause to search the vehicle. His training and experience with smelling marijuana need to be satisfactory in determining whether that smell is indeed marijuana.
You have to remember that there are many exceptions to the search warrant. The most common exception in searching a car is obviously the consent search (you allow the cop to search) or the incident to arrest search (you get arrested, the cop has the right to search the car then and there).
Trust me, if a cop thinks there is something illegal in that vehicle, he will get in there legally.
Sometimes, yes you are right, laws dont always play out how they were written to, but MOST of the time they do. Laws are not different than reality. Laws are the reality and its sad there has to be so many of them to enforce.
By the way, when you declined the search and they searched anyway....what did they find?

Thats what i thought

Just_One_Man's_Opinion

You contradict yourself. ONE second you are saying the police DON'T need a warrant and the next second you seem to say that they DO, but they disregard the law.

IF they law says that they need a warrant then that's why people think that. IF the police disregard the law, that's why we have courts.

sundevilcajun

That may be the case in Texas but in most states your car is considered an extension of your home, thus they need your permission or a warrant to search it.

greeneyedevil

Please refer to Arizona v Hicks this subject is clearly discussed in that Supreme Court Decision. Bottom line - police may conduct a search whenever they want, and whenever they feel it is necessary. What hinges here is the permissibility of any evidence obtained in that search. If the search is "illegal" the evidence will not be admissible. In order for it to be illegal, it would have to occur as a matter of some documentable pretext (i.e. the police searched your car only because you were black, and they did not do so for a similar situation involving a white person).

The Law: Plain View Doctrine
You do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in your vehicle if any contraband item or behavior happens in "plain view" of an officer. If you have a gun under your seat illegally, the officer would have to have some other "reasonable suspicion" that a crime has been or is being committed to search your vehicle.

Hope that helps!

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: