In Oregon, can the police search your vehicle without a search warrant?
by 
carla whitney
ANSWERS: 2
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The police cannot search your vehicle unless they have a search warrant or if they have your permission.
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Actually, there are instances where the police can search without your consent and without a search warrant. An officer can look into a vehicle and if something illegal is observable in plain sight, he may enter and seize the contraband. Officers may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle if there is a reasonable suspicion that weapons or other items that pose a safety risk to the officer are present. Cars may be searched under an "inventory search" - if a car is impounded, for example, officers may search to document the contents so the owner can't come back later and say there was a dozen Rolex watches now missing. Officers may also search when there is probable cause to believe that the car either contains evidence of a crime or is the instrumentality of the crime itself (i.e. they can search a car in a DUI investigation for open containers or the get-away car in a crime). As an aside - if officers have probable cause to search the car, they can search the passengers' belongings, too - not just the driver's.
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