ABA Family Legal Guide

Automobiles

Your Automobile and the Police

The Search

May a police search my car without a warrant after they have impounded it?

The police do not need a warrant to undertake a routine inventory of an impounded vehicle. The reason is that such an inventory protects the driver's possessions against theft, and also protects the police against claims of lost or stolen property. Such an inventory also protects the holding facility from dangerous materials that may be in the impounded vehicle, and may aid in the identification of the arrested person.