>the police have always had broad authority to conduct warrantless, intrusive searches at the time of an actual arrest.
Only insofar as needed to protect the arresting officer from harm or to prevent the destruction of evidence.[1]
Only insofar as needed to protect the arresting officer from harm or to prevent the destruction of evidence.[1]
Interestingly, search incident to arrest might not allow the police to search a vehicle's trunk.
Edit: Can't find the case, but the rationale according to a secondary source is "The search was invalid because the viewing of the tape was unnecessary to ensure its return to the defendant and it did not further any valid objective of an inventory search."
So the rationale hangs on the definition of the "valid objectives" of an inventory search. The "objectives [of an inventory search are] preserving the property of the defendant, shielding the police against claims of lost property, and protecting the police and others from any dangerous objects.