A 2004 Moorhead traffic stop study showed that American Indians were almost 20 percent more likely to be arrested than other drivers stopped by police.

The study, prepared by Minnesota State University Moorhead professor Mark Hansel, was sought for years by People Escaping Poverty Project and the Moor head Human Rights Commission.

Hansel’s study released this week by Moorhead Police Chief David Ebinger found that the racial breakdown of stops was similar to the breakdown of the Moorhead population.

Whites constituted 87 percent of all stops. Hispanics were stopped 5 percent of the time, followed by blacks, American Indians and Asians, in much smaller percentages.

Hansel determined that there were some troubling trends with disparate treatment of American Indians. His study found that American Indians were more likely to be arrested when police officers knew their ethnicity before the stop.

“American Indians over 30 are more likely to be stopped than any other ethnicity over 30,” Hansel said. “The reason for that is just not clear. It’s troubling in that it raises the possibility of profile stops, but it doesn’t prove it.”

The city asked Hansel — a sociology and criminal justice professor — to do the study because of his experience.

“It’s professionally and personally important to me,” Hansel said. “This is my area of expertise. I care about fair and impartial policing and judging.”

The city paid him $1,000 for the analysis.

He did a similar assessment in 2003. It found that Latinos and blacks were stopped, searched and arrested more often than Caucasians during traffic violations.

Hansel’s 2003 report and a statewide analysis of racial profiling done the same year showed either neutral or negative findings for how Moorhead police handled traffic stops, particularly those involving minorities.

Moorhead Human Rights commission Chairwoman Tammie Yak said the studies’ results prompted closer inspections of race relations in the region.

“Many of us on the Human Rights Commission have heard unofficial reports of racially motivated traffic stops in Moorhead,” Yak said. “We need to make sure that there is a way Ā… that (those reports are) addressed.”

Ebinger joined the Police Department in 2006, two years after the study was completed. Records are typically filed and archived after a year.

“When I got up here, I knew we had the 2003 study on the Web site,” he said. “The (2004 study) didn’t come up on my radar, even as late as October.”

Ebinger said it’s possible that miscommunication between city staff and himself during the transition between police chiefs in 2006 resulted in the rumor of a mysterious report.

Ebinger said current tracking systems examine allegations of racial profiling on a case-by-case basis. He said a visible complaint system at the police station, coupled with a complete record of every interaction a police officer has with the public, has proven effective in dealing with allegations.

Each patrol car has a video recording system that gathers and stores evidence of traffic infractions.

Hansel cautioned that racial profiling might not be a logical conclusion to draw from his studies due to “unreliable data.”

Certain factors were not taken into account for either report, such as vehicle condition and driver behavior, which were not tracked, Hansel said.

“We could spend the rest of our resources and all of our time trying to track down all the rival causal factors,” Ebinger said. Results also may have been skewed by the small numbers of minorities who were pulled over, the report said. “I am pointing no fingers at anybody,” Hansel said. “I don’t see clear signs of police profiling, but I do think there are unanswered questions that I hope people continue to talk about.” Readers can reach Forum reporter Kim Winnegge at (701) 241-5524