Almost 50 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court first held that automobile inventory searches are reasonable, and therefore lawful, under the Fourth Amendment. South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364 (1976). Since that time, the New York Police Department has conducted thousands of automobile inventory searches. For the first time, however, the New York Court of Appeals has held that the police department's protocol authorizing these searches meets constitutional standards.