Warrantless Vehicle Searches

Getting your vehicle searched can be lengthy, and in some cases unwarranted. A previous court ruling put into place that officers had to have probable cause to call in for a telephonic warrant to search a person’s vehicle. This was said to be a process that should take only 30 mins, but it was becoming apparent that it was taking much longer than this, leaving the police officer and vehicle occupants in serious danger from the passing vehicles on the roadway. To avoid these situations, officers would use a form requesting the driver of the vehicle to sign consenting to a search; this form was used significantly more with minority motorists. Police officers present this document in such a way that motorists feel they have no option but to consent to a search. It is the motorists right to refuse to sign the form and request a warrant be presented in order to search the vehicle, but as of September 24, 2015 this is no longer the case. A new ruling was put into place deeming it allowable for police officers to do warrantless searches as long as the officer feels there is probable cause to consider the vehicle to be containing contraband or evidence of crime. This new ruling rejects the standard in place from the previous ruling which is not in line with the U.S. Supreme Court Standards, based on the Fourth Amendment, because the State of New Jersey feels it is inconsistent with the state constitution.