5.2.2

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 5.2.2 Cars

General Rule. An officer may search the passenger compartment for weapons if justified under the rule of Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S. 1032, 1049-50 (1983) (“Our past cases indicate . . . that protection of police and others can justify protective searches when police have a reasonable belief that the suspect poses a danger, that roadside encounters between police and suspects are especially hazardous, and that danger may arise from the possible presence of weapons in the area surrounding a suspect. These principles compel our conclusion that the search of the passenger compartment of an automobile, limited to those areas in which a weapon may be placed or hidden, is permissible if the police officer possesses a reasonable belief based on specific and articulable facts which, taken together with the rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant the officer in...