The answer is yes. An officer may perform an inventory search after you have been arrested and the police have taken your car. The purpose of the search is to catalog the items in your car. An officer may also search your car if he or she has probable cause.
For an inventory search to be legal:
- The original impoundment of the vehicle must be lawful;
- The purpose of the inventory search must be to protect the owner’s property, to protect the police from claims of lost, stolen or vandalized property and to guard the police from danger; and
- The
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