Police officers should help uphold and enforce the law. They are subject to numerous legal restrictions during investigations and interactions with people they suspect of criminal activity. Police officers have to balance the need to identify criminals and document criminal activity with the responsibility to uphold the civil rights of every person they encounter. In some cases, police officers’ conduct clearly violates the rights of individuals.
During traffic stops, for example, police officers may look for any excuse to turn a simple traffic ticket into a much more serious criminal matter. They may try to go through the vehicle to look for evidence of a crime. Is it legal for police officers to search vehicles during a traffic stop for a minor infraction?
Police officers need a reason to search
The Fourth Amendment protects people in the United States from unreasonable searches and property seizures conducted by government agents. Police officers can search vehicles and other private property, but they must conform to current best practices.
Typically, the strongest legal justification for a vehicle search is a warrant. However, an officer who just stopped someone in traffic doesn’t have immediate access to a judge to obtain a warrant. Instead, they typically need to obtain consent from the person they stopped.
If a driver allows an officer to search their vehicle, then anything found during this search could potentially lead to the prosecution of the motorist. Without permission, police officers must have probable cause to justify a vehicle search.
Probable cause is not a vague suspicion or gut feeling. It is an articulable belief that a specific crime has occurred. The officer needs some kind of viable justification, such as the smell associated with illicit drugs or legal items in plain view within the vehicle.
Without probable cause, police officers cannot search a vehicle during a traffic stop without the permission of the driver. In cases where illegal searches occur, a defense attorney could challenge the use of evidence obtained during that search. It is often possible to suppress the evidence and exclude it from criminal proceedings if an attorney can prove that an illegal search occurred.
Working with a defense attorney can help people facing criminal charges due to the contents of their vehicles respond in the most effective manner possible. If violations of an individual’s rights occurred prior to or after their arrest, the mistakes or misconduct of law enforcement professionals can play a role in a criminal defense strategy employed afterwards.