§ 12-12-1403 - Policies. - Arkansas Statutes

12-12-1403. Policies.

(a) The Department of Arkansas State Police, the Arkansas Highway Police Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, all county sheriffs' departments, municipal police departments, constables, and all other law enforcement agencies of this state shall adopt a written policy that:

(1) Prohibits racial profiling as defined in 12-12-1401;

(2) Requires that law enforcement officers have reasonable suspicion prior to a stop, arrest, or detention;

(3) Defines reasonable suspicion to ensure that individuals are stopped for valid reasons and that race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion is not the basis for stops for violations for which nongroup members would not be stopped;

(4) Requires law enforcement officers to identify themselves by full name and jurisdiction and state the reason for the stop and when possible present written identification;

(5) Provides for a systematic review process by supervising personnel within a department or law enforcement agency for investigating allegations of racial profiling to determine whether any officers of the law enforcement agency have a pattern of stopping or searching persons, and if the review reveals a pattern, requires an investigation to determine whether a trend is present indicating that an officer may be using race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion as a basis for investigating other violations of criminal law;

(6) When a supervisor or other reviewer has detected a pattern of racial profiling, provides timely assistance, remediation, or discipline for individual law enforcement officers who have been found to be profiling by race, ethnicity, national origin, or religion;

(7) Ensures that supervisors will not retaliate against officers who report racial profiling by others; and

(8) Provides standards for the use of in-car audio and visual equipment, including the duration for which the recordings are preserved.

(b) (1) Each law enforcement agency shall include a copy of the law enforcement agency's policy in the annual report that the law enforcement agency submits to the Division of Legislative Audit.

(2) The Division of Legislative Audit shall submit to the Attorney General the name of any law enforcement agency that fails to comply with subdivision (b)(1) of this section, and the Attorney General shall take such action as may be necessary to enforce this section.

(3) The Division of Legislative Audit shall forward to the Attorney General a copy of each law enforcement agency's policy received by the Division of Legislative Audit. The Attorney General shall review each law enforcement agency's policy to ensure that the law enforcement agency's policy meets the standards required by law.

(c) (1) Each law enforcement agency may promote public awareness of the law enforcement agency's efforts to comply with the mandates of this section.

(2) In addition, each law enforcement agency shall make available for public inspection a copy of the law enforcement agency's policy.