Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and Sen. Hank Wilkins of Pine Bluff have scheduled a news conference tomorrow to discuss racial profiling legislation.

Wilkins’ Senate Bill 1001 would establish a racial profiling hotline and require the AG’s office to report statewide statistics on racial profiling annually to the Legislature.

The senator took some criticism earlier in the legislative session from the NAACP and other groups for his sponsorship of legislation to make not wearing a  seat belt a primary offense. Opponents said doing so would open the door to abuse by some police officers, leading to racial profiling.

At the time, Wilkins said his primary goal was to save lives, and he said he’d address racial profiling later in the session.

The Legislature passed the seat belt bill and Gov. Mike Beebe has signed it into law.

The news conference on the racial profiling bill is set for 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Capitol rotunda.

Tags: NAACP, seatbelts, Wilkins

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