The Missouri attorney general's report on racial profiling shows traffic stops in Mid-Missouri reflect the region's population, local law enforcement officials said.
But the numbers show that black drivers - as a percentage of the total population - are more likely to be arrested when stopped in Jefferson City.
In 2012, the Jefferson City Police Department made 12,675 traffic stops with 9,670 (76 percent) involving white drivers, 2,772 (21 percent) black drivers and 153 (1 percent) Hispanic drivers.
Of the 194 arrests made from those stops, 105 (54 percent) of those were white drivers, 87 (44.8 percent) were black and two (1 percent) were Hispanic.
The Jefferson City population is 78.5 percent white, 16.3 percent black and 2 percent Hispanic.
"We, as an organization, pay attention to those figures and follow very closely to what is mandated within the statute," said Jefferson City Police Chief Roger Schroeder. "We review these statistics and, if we feel there is some training requirements or improvements to be made in how we police our city, we certainly administer those remedies."
The outcomes of the stops made by Jefferson City police resulted in 5,685 citations issued and 8,158 warnings given out.
The arrest rate was: 1 percent for white drivers, 3 percent for black drivers and 1.3 percent for Hispanic drivers.
More males (6,815) were pulled over than females (5,950). The majority of the stops involved drivers who were 18-29 years old.
For the Cole County Sheriff's Department, there were 3,170 stops made by deputies in 2012 involving 2,805 (88.4 percent) white drivers, 253 (7.9 percent) black drivers and 39 (1.2 percent) Hispanic drivers.
"I think, simply put, the results balance out real well," said Cole County Sheriff Greg White.
Of the 188 arrests deputies made in 2012, 153 (81.3 percent) where white drivers, 23 (12.2) were black drivers and eight (4.2 percent) were Hispanic.
The arrest rate was 5.45 percent for white drivers, 9 percent for black drivers and 20 percent for Hispanic drivers.
The population of Cole County is 84.6 percent white, nearly 11 percent black and nearly 2 percent Hispanic.
When deputies made stops, 414 resulted in a citation being issued and 2,805 warnings were given out.
There were 1,898 males stopped and 1,272 females. Most were between the ages of 18-29.
"We know one can't draw conclusions from raw statistics," Schroeder said. "We have to continue to work to be conscientious and to be fair."
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