One of the questions I consistently get is “can the police search my car if I get pulled over?”
The answer: it depends.
As a general rule, police officers cannot search your car unless you give them consent to do so. If the officer asks to search your car, you do not have to consent. Just tell the officer, respectfully, that you do not consent to a search of your vehicle.
However, there are some circumstances where an officer may have probable cause to search your vehicle without your consent. If there is evidence of illegal activity within plain view inside the car, then at that point the officer has probable cause to search your vehicle, with or without your consent. For example, a police officer pulls you over because one of your brake lights is out. While asking you for your license and registration, the officer notices marijuana in the ashtray. That officer now has probable cause to search your vehicle.
Yikes!
The officer may ask you to get out of the car. If so, the officer can perform a limited pat-down of your body to make sure you are not armed. If you are placed under arrest, the officer can search you for anything that may be illegal.
Additionally, once you’ve been arrested, the officer can perform a search of the compartments of your car. Locked spaces are off-limits, as are any spaces that are not within the main cabin of the car. For those spaces, the officer can get a search warrant; if the car is impounded, the officers may perform an inventory search of the car.
The best way to avoid a search of your car is, of course, to not get pulled over in the first place. If you do get pulled over, always be polite and cooperative with the police officers. Be respectful, but always exercise your right to refuse a search of your car if the officer asks for your consent!