ABA Family Legal Guide

Automobiles

Your Automobile and the Police

The Search

May a police officer search a closed container inside my car without a warrant?

The Supreme Court has ruled that the police do not need a warrant to search closed containers found in the passenger compartment of an automobile whose occupant is under arrest.

The police may search a closed container even if you are not under arrest if the container might reasonably contain evidence of a crime for which the officer had probable cause to search the vehicle in the first place.