Just fewer than 12.45 percent of Blacks stopped were searched, compared to 6.1 percent of Whites. This means Black drivers who are stopped are 80 percent more likely to be searched than a White driver.

According to Attorney Jay Nixon’s 2003 report on Missouri traffic stops, Blacks were “stopped at a rate 36 percent higher than expected, based on their proportion of the driving-age population.” In fact, this is up one percent from the 35 percent differential in 2002.

Again, the percentages on searches based on race shows a staggering difference. Just fewer than 12.45 percent of Blacks stopped were searched, compared to 6.1 percent of Whites. This means Black drivers who are stopped are 80 percent more likely to be searched than a White driver.

While the results scream of racial profiling, Mr. Nixon says the statistics cannot prove or disprove any theories.

“A statistical disproportion did not prove that law enforcement decisions involving traffic stops are being based solely on inappropriate factors,’’ Mr. Nixon said in a press release.

He praised police departments for being forthright with traffic stop information, and said Missouri “is the first state to undertake such analysis on this scale, and our state continues to be a national leader in committing resources to assess traffic stops and eliminate racial disparities in them.”

John Chasnoff, a spokesman for The Coalition Against Crimes and Repression, said the weakest part of Missouri’s statute calling for data compilation of traffic stops is that “there is no enforcement of penalties.”

“There is no process to make change,” he said.

The policy says that there should be a way to red-flag problem officers and the governor can withhold state funding from departments that do not file their traffic stop statistics with Nixon’s office. In 2002, 59 agencies did not meet reporting deadlines and 56 did not comply in 2003. In 2003, the Missouri Department of Public Safety withheld more than $7,100 in state funding from 17 non-complying agencies. On an average, that comes to a paltry $417.60 per department.

“Both the city and St. Louis County police say they have policies in place to identify any problem officers,” Mr. Chasnoff said. “To my knowledge, none have been red-flagged. The numbers say there is a problem, but the police departments say they can’t find anyone responsible for it.”

Hispanic drivers were stopped slightly more frequently than their proportion of the population. However, Hispanic drivers who were stopped were twice as likely to be searched as White drivers who were stopped.