CHARLESTON — In West Virginia, a black motorist is 1.64 times as likely to be pulled over by a traffic cop than a white motorist.

Or, at least that finding held sway in a special study entailing 301,479 traffic stops between April 2007 and last September, and a legislative panel is looking into the numbers.

For instance, a Hispanic driver is 1.48 times more apt to be pulled to the curb.

What’s more, the search rates for black and Hispanic drivers were 10.64 and 10.24 respectively, as contrasted with a 4.32 rate for white ones.

Do the numbers paint a picture of police engaging in racial profiling in West Virginia?

Back in business after a two-year hiatus, the Select Committee on Minority Issues is determined to analyze the numbers and work with police officials to see what they mean.

And if they point to some nefarious attitudes by the men and women hired to “protect and serve,” the committee is resolved to make amends.

“The findings are significant,” says Franklin Crabtree, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in West Virginia, in remarks before the panel this past week.

Crabtree’s exhaustive report showed that blacks and Hispanics were, respectively, 2.45 and 2.37 times more likely to have their vehicles searched than whites.

Searches yielded another interesting statistic, the ACLU leader noted.

Once vehicles were examined, he said, the contraband rate for black and Hispanic drivers was 43.11 and 30.23, respectively, while it climbed to 47.7 for whites.

Hispanics led the league in the likelihood of getting a ticket — 60.92 percent. That stacks up against 57.34 for blacks and 46.52 for whites.

Disparity ratios were highest in Barbour County, 2.17; Berkeley, 2.39; Hardy, 3.47; Jefferson, 1.9; Preston, 1.75; and Summers, 1.9.

The report revealed that minority drivers were 2 1/2 to 6 times more apt to have vehicles searched than whites in these 10 counties: Calhoun, 6.93; Doddridge, 3.3; Gilmer, 2.95; Hardy, 3.5; Mason, 2.49; Mineral, 2.56; Mingo, 3.2; Pleasants, 5.5; Randolph, 3.04; and Wirt, 6.38.

One committee member, Delegate John Shott, R-Mercer, speculated about an angle that wasn’t considered in the study: Are poorer motorists actually being profiled, without regard to skin color or ethnicity?

“I think it’s a strong possibility,” Shott said, after raising that question at the committee meeting.

For instance, the lawmaker said, motorists are required to maintain vehicles in a road-worthy fashion, and this takes money.

“Obviously, one function is a supply of money to be able to do that,” Shott said.

“I think we ought to be looking at whether or not the stop was, for instance, for a defective taillight and it just so happened the driver was a minority. That’s one factor. I don’t think that’s the whole story. I just think that ought to be analyzed.”

Put simply, he said, a driver possibly could be yanked to the side by a traffic cop simply because he is too poor to afford the proper upkeep of his car, and his race is a non-factor.

On the other hand, economics and race could work in tandem to explain some traffic stops, the delegate said.

Shott gave the illustration of a young black wheeling about in a shiny Escalade.

“If a young person, especially a young minority person, who doesn’t appear to have the means to own a vehicle of that type is driving a brand new Escalade, in some areas, that’s an invitation to stop and find a reason to search,” he said.

Crabtree said some thought was given to the prospects that poverty, not necessarily race, prompts some traffic stops.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions,” he said. “That’s one of them.”

House Judiciary Chair Carrie Webster, D-Kanawha, suggested Shott’s thoughts should be pursued, saying the committee needs to look at the entire spectrum of social and economic justice, and the panel’s co-chairman, Delegate Clif Moore, D-McDowell, agreed.

“We want to have a good by-product this time,” Moore said, emphasizing the panel wants to examine minority issues with regard to education, health, criminal and juvenile justice, and employment.

Webster said she wants the panel to go beyond the racial profiling statistical sheet and explore law enforcement difficulties that might be prevalent in small municipalities across the state.

One inspiration was a recent racially-motivated episode involving a police officer in Montgomery, the delegate said.

“What happened in Montgomery is chilling,” Webster said.

“There are incidents like that running rampant in certain areas of the state, because there are no checks and balances.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com