# Would you let a police officer search your car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 3, 2017, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397 "2017-09-03T13:40:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/61 "2017-09-05T18:14:37Z")
The thing that bothers me is the part about officers finding a large amount of cash in your car and seizing it as some vague “evidence” of _possible wrongdoing_, which means you have to jump through hoops to get it back (seeing as to how you were never actually charged with anything). Why would you keep a large amount of cash in your car and not on your person? Is it a lower bar for them to search your person? I had something like a thousand dollars on me on vacation, but it was always on my person (not that we ever got stopped for anything). ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/62 "2017-09-05T18:21:55Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The thing that bothers me is the part about officers finding a large amount of cash in your car and seizing it as some vague “evidence” of _possible wrongdoing_, which means you have to jump through hoops to get it back (seeing as to how you were never actually charged with anything). Why would you keep a large amount of cash in your car and not on your person? Is it a lower bar for them to search your person? I had something like a thousand dollars on me on vacation, but it was always on my person (not that we ever got stopped for anything). I don’t think $1,000 would raise many eyebrows. $5,000 or more might. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/63 "2017-09-05T20:35:24Z")
I am guessing $1000 might well raise questions these days. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/64 "2017-09-05T20:38:55Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > I am guessing $1000 might well raise questions these days. I’ve driven to the notary with $12,000 to buy a boat, and I’ve driven _from_ the notary with $8,000 after selling a boat. Having cash in your possession is not illegal. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/65 "2017-09-05T20:56:04Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > I am guessing $1000 might well raise questions these days. If it’s 10 crisp $100 bills, I doubt it. If it’s a rubber-banded brick of crumpled up ones, fives, tens, and twenties, _maybe_. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/66 "2017-09-05T21:14:38Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I don’t give a crap about their heroin smuggling concerns. I’d say no. You got me thinking, however, about when I might consent. All I came up with is the cop telling me that there’s a missing child and they’re looking for a car that matches mine, and asks to take a quick look in the trunk. I’d probably fall for that, and let them have a peak so they can go back to finding the real car with the child in it. If your car matches the description of a suspected abductor’s vehicle, I strongly suspect they won’t be asking for your consent. > [@zimaane](#): > > … Question: Is one obligated to tell the officer that she is being recorded? Depends on the state (and appeals court jurisdiction - I think) that you’re in. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/67 "2017-09-05T21:16:07Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The thing that bothers me is the part about officers finding a large amount of cash in your car and seizing it as some vague “evidence” of _possible wrongdoing_, which means you have to jump through hoops to get it back (seeing as to how you were never actually charged with anything). Why would you keep a large amount of cash in your car and not on your person? Is it a lower bar for them to search your person? I had something like a thousand dollars on me on vacation, but it was always on my person (not that we ever got stopped for anything). If the police ask you “do you have any cash in the vehicle?” or something along those lines, I’d recommend not answering in the affirmative. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/68 "2017-09-05T21:56:52Z")
Short Version - What Bricker said. I’d rather have my lawyer spring me from jail in the morning because I pissed off a cop than give away my legal defense of an illegal search if it ends up going to trial. According to my own lawyer, there are only three sentences you should ever say to a cop. The first is “I do not consent to any searches.” The second is “Am I free to go?” The third is “I can’t answer that question without my attorney present.” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2017, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/69 "2017-09-05T23:59:34Z")
Is it really an option? You mean I can say “No”, and the cop will just say he’s sorry he bothered me, and wave me on? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/70 "2017-09-06T01:28:44Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Is it really an option? You mean I can say “No”, and the cop will just say he’s sorry he bothered me, and wave me on? Of course. He might try multiple times. “If you don’t have anything illegal, then what’s the problem?” But the answer to that question is simple: “I’m sorry, officer, but my privacy is very important to me, so I do not consent to a search.” Pleasant, friendly, and firm. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/71 "2017-09-06T01:30:49Z")
I would not consent simply because I see no upside in doing so. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/72 "2017-09-06T15:29:05Z")
Random question this made me think of: Do they just need the consent from the driver or the owner? If I’m the passenger in my car and my friend is driving, do they need my friend’s consent or mine? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/73 "2017-09-06T17:27:11Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Random question this made me think of: > > Do they just need the consent from the driver or the owner? If I’m the passenger in my car and my friend is driving, do they need my friend’s consent or mine? I believe it is the operator’s consent. It would be the same as if you were sitting at home while your friend is driving your car. If you have consented to allowing your friend to drive your car, then he has the ability to consent. Though, that would be interesting, if someone steals your car, could they “consent” to a search. IOW, you have contraband in your car, it gets stolen and pulled over by the cops, they search and find contraband. Would that be a legal search? IANAL, but I would think so, but it may be easier making the “it’s not mine” claim if the car had been out of your possession, and in the possession of criminals. ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/74 "2017-09-06T17:43:01Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Random question this made me think of: > > Do they just need the consent from the driver or the owner? If I’m the passenger in my car and my friend is driving, do they need my friend’s consent or mine? Now I’m wondering what happens if the driver and the owner give opposite answers. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/75 "2017-09-06T18:07:25Z")
Nope. When I go on cross-country road trips, I tend to bring along everything but the kitchen sink. I’m not letting anybody dig through all of my gear without a warrant. I had to miss out on visiting Cape Canaveral National Seashore in 2002 because they were searching every car coming in–apparently a security measure due to an impending launch. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/76 "2017-09-06T19:51:38Z")
ISTM, I’ve read “horror stories” of vehicle searches, in which it was noted that _any occupant of the vehicle_ can give consent – or at least, the cop requesting the search took it that way. So they can badger a passenger to give consent (“Look, son, you can make this easy on yourself or you can make it hard on yourself”). (ETA: The theory being, apparently, that the driver is most likely the owner and the passenger is most likely not the owner, so the passenger would have less reason to object to a search and can more easily be badgered into consenting.) Can our resident legaldopers comment? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/77 "2017-09-06T19:55:26Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Nope. > > When I go on cross-country road trips, I tend to bring along everything but the kitchen sink. I’m not letting anybody dig through all of my gear without a warrant. You don’t find kitchen sinks just anywhere and everywhere out on the road. If I were you, I’d take that along too. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/78 "2017-09-06T22:11:30Z")
These days I would not consent. When I was young I let police officers search my car a few times and gave them cash on two occasions. Both men explained that it was a kind of service they do, so I didn’t have to go downtown and wait until morning to pay the speeding ticket. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/79 "2017-09-07T02:44:53Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > … So they can badger a passenger to give consent (“Look, son, you can make this easy on yourself or you can make it hard on yourself”).… A web search turns up a number of forum discussions, including a [ten-year-old exchange on something called “The Straight Dope Message Board”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=449114). What I glean from what I have read is that the police, out there alone on the dark shoulder, rely on “apparent authority”. If a person seems to have the authority to provide consent, that is sufficient, whether or not that person actually does. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397/80 "2017-09-07T03:14:02Z")
> [@Crazy\_Canuck](#): > > Now I’m wondering what happens if the driver and the owner give opposite answers. > [@Senegoid](#): > > ISTM, I’ve read “horror stories” of vehicle searches, in which it was noted that _any occupant of the vehicle_ can give consent – or at least, the cop requesting the search took it that way. > > So they can badger a passenger to give consent (“Look, son, you can make this easy on yourself or you can make it hard on yourself”). > > (ETA: The theory being, apparently, that the driver is most likely the owner and the passenger is most likely not the owner, so the passenger would have less reason to object to a search and can more easily be badgered into consenting.) > > Can our resident legaldopers comment? IANAL, but SCOTUS held, in _Fernandez v California_ (2013), that: > [@](#): > > When multiple occupants are involved, the rule extends to the search of the premises or effects of an absent, nonconsenting occupant so long as “the consent of one who possesses common authority over [the] premises or effects” is obtained. … However, when “a physically present inhabitan[t]” refuses to consent, that refusal “is dispositive as to him, regardless of the consent of a fellow occupant.” … A controlling factor in Randolph was the objecting occupant’s physical presence. [This WaPo article](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-rules-in-favor-of-police-in-home-searches-without-objector-present/2014/02/25/7bc1bb6a-9e5a-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28_story.html) gives a good bit more reader-friendly summary. That case concerned a residence, but I’d be surprised if some flavor of that logic didn’t extend to vehicles too. If you’re present, sitting in the driver’s seat, and you tell the police they cannot search your vehicle, but a passenger in the back seat pipes up and says, “well, I don’t mind if you search”, I suspect the fruits of that search would not be admissible, at least not in a trial where you’re starring as the defendant. However, if you tell the police “no”, then park the car and run into the store, leaving your wife in the passenger seat, and the police approach her and convince her to grant consent, there’s an excellent chance the fruits of _that_ search would be admissible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-let-a-police-officer-search-your-car/795397.md?page=3)