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Commonwealth v. Reinert11/18/2005
to protect the police from theft claims by Appellee and to protect Appellee's property while his vehicle was in police custody. Thus, I conclude the search served two of the purposes designed to safeguard seized items in order to benefit both the police and Appellee.
15 Furthermore, I find the suppression court erred in concluding the officers went beyond the scope of the inventory search when the officers discovered the contraband inside the closed, but unlocked safe in Appellee's van. The police guidelines state that " rticles of personal luggage which are closed but UNLOCKED must be inventory searched for valuables."
Furthermore, the United States Supreme Court has stated that policies of opening all containers or of opening no containers are "unquestionably permissible." Florida v. Wells, 495 U.S. 1, 4 (1990). Here, I conclude the Amity Township Police Department's specific policy of inventorying items found in unlocked luggage was proper, and Officer Oesterling conducted the search pursuant to the policy.
16 Finally, the police had a responsibility to not unnecessarily search the vehicle, such as removing seats or ripping open the interior of the car. See Brandt,366 A.2d at 1242. The officers in this case did not go beyond what was necessary to inventory the contents within the vehicle and their actions complied with the inventory search guidelines established in Hennigan, supra.
17 I conclude sound public policy, in addition to legal precedent, supports the actions of the police. An individual should not be able to frustrate an otherwise lawful inventory search by making some possible incriminating statement. In this case, I would find the police acted properly and with due regard to police procedures and to the rights of Appellee, and, therefore, I would reverse the suppression court's order.
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