CA8: Lesser intrusive measures to inventory not constitutionally required

The inventory was appropriately conducted within the policy of the department. Defendant had no constitutional right to have somebody come to pick up the car before inventory. The police could do that if convenient, but they weren’t required to do so. United States v. Morris, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 3933 (8th Cir. Feb. 8, 2019):

Morris argues the deputies should have allowed her husband to pick up the vehicle rather than impounding it. However, “[n]othing in the Fourth Amendment requires a police department to allow an arrested person to arrange for another person to pick up his car to avoid impoundment and inventory.” United States v. Agofsky, 20 F.3d 866, 873 (8th Cir. 1994). “Police may take protective custody of a vehicle when they have arrested its occupants, even if it is lawfully parked and poses no public safety hazard.” United States v. Arrocha, 713 F.3d 1159, 1163 (8th Cir. 2013). While the deputies could have allowed Morris’s husband to pick up the RV, they were not required to do so. The district court did not err in finding that “[g]iven the fact that Morris was arrested alone in a rural area, Taylor’s decision to use his discretion to impound the vehicle was legitimate and reasonable.”