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Hey guys, it's Anthony Bandiero here with blue to gold law enforcement training, bring it to the roadside chat from the studio since travel restrictions are in place. Alright. Today's question is, is can officers search a locked container during a vehicle inventory search? And before I give you the answer, I just want to remind my viewers to please hit subscribe, please visit me on YouTube and Twitter and get connected with me because what my goal is, I want to make the largest law enforcement community for getting answers and sharing tactics, getting legal, you know, answers and so forth. That's my goal, because I want to train all law enforcement officers in this vital information. And I want to work to, I want to help us all work together to share best practices. Alright, let's dive right in. If you have a policy that allows you to go into law containers and the answers you can, so that's really the answer. Courts want you to conduct vehicle inventory searches, and they are searches I subconsciously anthony They're not really searches. We're not supposed to call them searches. They are searches. They're just inventory searches. And that searches for evidence. Anyway, as long as your policy says it, you know, that is the kind of that's the kind of thing that courts are looking for, because they courts want to either reduce or eliminate officer discretion when conducting a vehicle inventory search, because they do not want them to be a, you know, wholesale rummaging for evidence, they want them to be legit. They want to be in good faith. You know, why do you get to inventory search a car, to protect somebody's property, to protect your agency from false claims, and to also secure dangerous items. That's why these are not supposed to be, hey, let's get into that car through an inventory search type of mentality. So policies now coming in two flavors, written and Customs and Practice. Ideally, if you want to keep your agency out of suppression hearings, and so forth, your policy should allow you too, to inventory locked containers. If you have access to them with a key or the person gives you a combination and so forth. I do not recommend that you break open closed containers or lock containers during inventory search. Because if you do it, if you do not do it on all cars, but just doing uncertain cars, what the defense attorney is going to likely say is, Why are you breaking my client's property? You know, it just doesn't, it doesn't sound reasonable. There are cases out there, they've upheld it here and there. But I do not recommend that to anybody if it's locked. And you believe that there's evidence in there go get a warrant, or articulate the motor vehicle exception. So back to our lock attainable. So we have written policies that the policy should say that if if the container can be opened with a key or combination, and no damage will be done, let's inventory it. There's also a custom and practice policy exception, if you can say that based off your training, and this is your customer practice to always, you know, use a key to open up a lock container, then that will most likely be upheld in court as a lawful inventory. But the courts do not want to see is you on the stands being asked when was the last time you inventory law container that you had access to? And your answers like two years ago. You know, was there any reason? Did you have opportunities to to inventory lock containers? Well, yeah, sure. I've, you know, I've had some opportunities but you know, I only I don't do it all the time. That's what we want to keep away from during for searches is now it looks like you're searching for evidence. And that is not a legit motive on the motor vehicle exception. I'm sorry, the inventory exception. There's your answer. I hope it helps again, hit subscribe. Also, if you do not have my book, the search and seizure Survival Guide. It is the best selling criminal law book in the nation. Cops love it because it's down to earth. It's straightforward, and it gives you the guidelines that you need to do your job constitutionally. So you can visit the website blue to gold.com for that and until next time, stay safe.
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