Legal Question in Criminal Law in Tennessee

Re: help

It depends.

If the driver of the vehicle is arrested and that car is going to be left or towed off, police can perform what is called an "inventory search," supposedly to assure that the owner later will not claim something was in it that was not and to assure that valuables are protected.

Or if the owner or driver consent, they can legally search.

Or if they have a warrant.

Otherwise, generally, no, the police do not have authority to search a vehicle without probable cause.