REPRINT: AG: Racial profiling hotline now live


AG: Racial profiling hotline now live


Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announced today the launch of the Racial Profiling Hotline to accept complaints by citizens that have experienced or witnessed what they believe to be racial profiling by law enforcement.
Act 768 of 2009, sponsored by Sen. Hank Wilkins, D-Pine Bluff, establishes the hotline. As a result of the complaints, the attorney general will create a report outlining the complaints received and provide it annually to the Legislative Council and Task Force on Racial Profiling.
Wilkins sponsored legislation during the legislative session earlier this year to make not wearing a seat belt a primary offense, meaning it could be the sole reason for a traffic stop. That bill, which has been signed into law, drew objections from groups such as the NAACP that said it would open the door to racial profiling.
“While I still believe, and certainly hope, that racial profiling is rare in Arkansas, it is important that we have a tool to use in tracking and evaluating allegations of illegal profiling,” McDaniel said in a statement today.
The toll-free number is 877-246-4404.

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