Comparison of Different Types of Car Searches

	Automobile Exception Search	Belton Search	Long Search
Where police may search in the car	Anywhere in the car	Passenger compartment only	Passenger compartment only
Level of suspicion required in order to search the car	Probable cause to think there is contraband or evidence of a crime in the car	No suspicion is required as the search – probable cause to arrest is required	Reasonable suspicion to think someone in the car is armed and dangerous
What the police may search for	Whatever they have probable cause to think they will find in the car	Weapons and evidence of a crime – any crime (not just the one for which the defendant was arrested)	Weapons only
What containers can be searched	Only those containers that could reasonably contain the thing the police have probable cause to search for	Virtually any container. Some doubt about locked glove compartments and consoles and the like	Only those containers that could reasonably contain a weapon