I'm guessing that Ferguson is pretty segregated (out on a limb, I know). Any racial discrepancy in traffic stops, arrests, et al could be explained if drug-dealing corners were predominately (or exclusively) in black neighborhoods. Police go where the crime is, and more blacks get caught up in the net. That would also explain why a higher percentage of whites who do get stopped have contraband -- that's the principal reason they go to those areas.
Geography may also play a role. If the smaller (by population) white neighborhoods are located on the outskirts of the city, away from downtown, then white residents are mostly driving outside Ferguson, not through it. If you weighted traffic stops by miles driven in the jurisdiction, the racial discrepancy might disappear.
There are probably racial factors at work, but not necessarily by the police.
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I'm guessing that Ferguson is pretty segregated (out on a limb, I know). Any racial discrepancy in traffic stops, arrests, et al could be explained if drug-dealing corners were predominately (or exclusively) in black neighborhoods. Police go where the crime is, and more blacks get caught up in the net. That would also explain why a higher percentage of whites who do get stopped have contraband -- that's the principal reason they go to those areas.
Geography may also play a role. If the smaller (by population) white neighborhoods are located on the outskirts of the city, away from downtown, then white residents are mostly driving outside Ferguson, not through it. If you weighted traffic stops by miles driven in the jurisdiction, the racial discrepancy might disappear.
There are probably racial factors at work, but not necessarily by the police.