National Association of Police Organizations: Press Releases and Bulletins

WASHINGTON, DC - "The National Association of Police Organizations praises the U.S. Supreme Court for giving officers the tools they need to do their jobs. We are gratified by the Supreme Court's 6-3 vote upholding the right of law enforcement officers to search a passenger's personal belongings whenever there is reason to believe that there is contraband or evidence of criminal wrongdoing hidden in the car," stated Robert T. Scully, NAPO's executive director. "Here a Wyoming highway patrol officer found a passenger's purse which contained a syringe with 60 cc's of methamphetamine, a vial of methamphetamine, and much more drug paraphernalia inside the bag, when they had probable cause to search the car, because of the driver's conduct."
Scully continued, "The Wyoming court had created a loophole under the Fourth Amendment big enough for criminals to drive a car through. We are concerned that law enforcement officers be able to conduct thorough searches in vehicles, whenever they have probable cause to search for evidence of criminal activity. Officers must be free of unreasonable, confusing, and unworkable restrictions on what may be searched. The Wyoming court's complicated "notice of ownership" test would have required law enforcement officers to make difficult, if not impossible, decisions as to which containers in a vehicle belong to which person. Those committing criminal offenses could have easily evaded a reasonable search, because there is much opportunity for drivers and passengers, to transfer contraband into a container, to transfer contraband from one container to another one without being detected, or to develop a story of who should claim ownership of a container, to curtail law enforcement efforts. In fact, officers routinely uncover such efforts. The Supreme Court agreed with our position and adopted the reasoning in our amicus curiae brief filed with the Court."
NAPO's brief also emphasized that the Wyoming court's decision could have impacted the safety of officers, because stopping a vehicle constitutes one of the least predictable and potentially most dangerous duties of an officer, and weapons can easily be concealed in purses.

The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) is a coalition of police unions and associations from across the United States that serves in Washington, DC to advance the interests of America's law enforcement officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. Founded in 1978, NAPO now represents more than 4,000 police unions and associations, 250,000 sworn law enforcement officers, 3,000 retired officers and more than 100,000 citizens who share a common dedication to fair and effective crime control and law enforcement.