 Searches incident to a lawful arrest

Search incident to a lawful arrest, commonly known as search incident to arrest (SITA) or the "Chimel" rule, is a U.S. legal principle that allows police to perform a warrantless search of an arrested person, and the area within the arrestee’s immediate control, in the interest of officer safety, the prevention of escape, and the destruction of evidence.In most cases, a search warrant pursuant to the Fourth Amendment is required to perform a lawful search; an exception to this requirement is SITA.