Conducting warrantless vehicle searches

How're you doing Law enforcement officers. It's Anthony Bandiero, here with Blue to Gold law enforcement training. And today, I'm going to teach you the four elements that you need before you can do a warrantless vehicle search. The first element is probable cause that seems obvious. You need probable cause that the vehicle contains contraband or evidence. The second element is that the vehicle cannot be inside curtilage. Right, you must have lawful access to the vehicle. So that means that the vehicle mainly is on a public street or in a public parking lot. But if the vehicles inside a garage, underneath a carport, in the back yard, you likely do not have lawful access to that vehicle. And so, therefore, you're gonna need something else, for example, consent to be on the property by somebody with a parent or actual authority or some kind of exigency. So, for example, you believe that the vehicle is going to flee the jurisdiction, and so forth. So the third element is the vehicle has to be rarely mobile. What I like to teach my students is readily mobile means the vehicle either needs gas, tires, or a battery. And so if you see a vehicle broken down on the side of the road, and you develop probable cause to that there's evidence inside the car, can you search it? The answer is yes, if the vehicle, for example, has a flat tire, it's out of gas, or the battery went dead. And finally, the fourth element that you need is your search cannot exceed the probable cause that you have. And so this is very important because whenever you search a vehicle under the motor vehicle exception, you can only search. The scope of the search must be within the bounds of what a magistrate would allow you to search where the metric would allow you to search. So, for example, if you're looking for a stolen MacBook Pro, and you get you got a warrant from a judge, but the judge allows you to search for that computer in the eyeglass case? And the answer is no because it can't be contained in there. And so, the same principles apply when you're conducting a warrantless search or seizure. You don't have extra powers that the judge can give you in the first place. So those are the four elements again, probable cause lawful access, which essentially means the vehicle is not within the curtilage. It's rarely mobile, and your search does not exceed the scope of the probable cause that you have. I hope this helps. If you have a question for me, email me at [email protected]. If you want me to come out and teach you and your fellow officers advanced search and seizure. Until next time, be safe