When does a cop have the right to search you or your vehicle?

Jim Chalon	Yes he can search you or your vehicle if he has reason to believe that you are carrying something illegal.

silvercharm516	There are several ways that the officer can be justified in searching your vehicle: 1. You give them permission. If they ask and you say "yes", they can search anywhere they want. 2. The have a search warrant. 3. They have probable cause. This can be obtained in any number of ways. (1) Smells. The courts have already ruled that you have no reasonable expectation of privacy with regards to smells. If we catch a whiff of alcohol or drugs, that's all we need. (2) Sight. Look up the "Plain Sight Doctrine". If we see a liquor/beer container, drug paraphernalia or any other item that gives us cause, then we can look anywhere we want. (3) Sound. If we hear someone in your trunk. If you say something "damning" such as "did you hide the pot?". We can search at that point. 4. If you are arrested. But you also must remember that "Unreasonable Search and Seizure" also applies to the length of the traffic stop. At that time, you are actually being "seized" (your freedom is being limited) for a reasonable time while the citation is being written. We cannot hold you for 2 hours waiting for a K-9 unit to get there in hopes that it smells drugs. That's unreasonable. But if the K-9 unit is already there and it alerts, that's a different story. And to answer your question... Yes, you can say "no". If the officer doesn't have probable cause, we can't search the vehicle at that time. But also remember that if we have probable cause, we don't need your permission.

dragon	only if he has reasonable reason for doing so. as for going into your house, he can not with out a search warrant, however a customs officer can at any time day or night

haterz	when your black

Heavy_Cavalry_Sgt	If you grant permission, he can search it, or if he has a warrant, or if he sees something in plain sight that leads him to reasonably believe that there is probably cause for a search.

Richie Connors	An officer may search your car if you give permission, if you have any illegal item in plain view, if he detects an odor of narcotics within the vehicle, if a narcotics-detecting dog indicates the presence of narcotics, or if he places you under arrest for another offense.

Jeff	In Texas, they can search you and your car when they have "Probable Cause", which they can equate to pretty much anything from your haircut, how you walk, what color your jacket is, etc. Soooo pretty much whenever they feel like it.

Samurai	They can search with probable cause. Speed / broken headlight is not probable cause. You can refuse the search. However if he can smell marijuana for instance or sees a roach in your ash tray he now has probable cause and can search without your consent.

sound_of_the_silenced3	Yes you can say you dont consent to a search. And yes he has to have probably cause to search your car. If you refuse a search the K9 will likely be called out in order to get probable cause.

*Leah*	In the UK they can search on a whim!