What happened to reasonable suspicion to search vehicle by police? Do they have to inform you of what they are searching for?

The law is the first thing a officer is to do in a stop. Is to inform you why they stopped you. This limits search. But American cops do not like the law so ignore the law. Making them illegal to be on the street or in public because they do not like.

There are a few circumstances under which police can search your car. Reasonable suspicion is not one of them.

Probable cause is a legal way to search, many people get the two confused. Probable cause means a reasonable person would think a crime was probably or is probably being committed. Examples include your car smelling like weed or your car matching the description of one just used in a crime. Reasonable suspicion means a cop is reasonably suspicious, and it's not enough to conduct a search. An example of this would be a known drug dealer driving a Mercedes. The cop is suspicious and wants to search, but he can't because he has no probable cause.

Other ways for a cop to search a vehicle...

Search warrant- obvious, issued by the court, requires probable cause.

Consent- You let them search, written or verbal

Incident to arrest- if you are arrested during the traffic stop, an inventory of your vehicle will be conducted

Plain sight- If the officer sees something through the window that is illegal, he has the right to arrest you and search further

K9 air sniff- In certain circumstances the officer can have a dog sniff around your vehicle for the scent of drugs. It should be noted that he cannot hold you at the scene to wait for a dog to arrive, as noted in the recent case Rodriguez vs US. He must have the dog already at the scene and not cause you to wait an unreasonable amount of time. Should the dog alert on your vehicle he can search.

Legally, they need probable cause (a higher standard than reasonable suspicion) to search without consent. That said, they are NOT required to tell you what their probable cause is or what they are looking for at the scene.

Gratiot County police (Mich) pulled my 28 year old daughter over for licence plate light out on a very secluded dirt road. He then told her to get out of vehicle and began to search it. He never informed her what he was looking for but eventually found a container with 2 grams of pot in it. He then took her into custody without reading her her rights. After finger printing and mug shots she was issued a ticket for misdemeanor possession and released with court date.

Due to resent events in news (woman dying in jail after three days for failing to signal lane change) she was afraid to say anything.

So do police need reasonable suspicion and inform you why they search vehicle?

They have to have reasonable suspicion which could be almost anything. No, they don't have to inform you of what they are looking for.

Reasonable suspicion went out the Door when they passed the Patriot Act...were you one of the stupid ones to believe the Patriot act was Patriotic?

I don't know I'm not on a payment plan.