Topeka ? Black and Hispanic motorists are three times more likely than whites to be stopped by law enforcement authorities in Kansas, according to a just-completed report on racial profiling in the state.

“The results of the study demonstrate, by and large, that the state of Kansas is experiencing profiling of Hispanics and black motorists,” said the $400,000 study by the Police Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based group.

The report — several years in the making — represents the first comprehensive look at whether minorities in Kansas are being selectively stopped, questioned and searched based on the color of their skin.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ office said Friday that the governor was taking the report seriously and that she probably would use it as a tool to improve training of law enforcement personnel.

“It’s critical that Kansans feel like they are being treated fairly,” said Matthew All, Sebelius’ general counsel.

The report compiled data on the race and ethnicity of motorists from tens of thousands of stops at predetermined locations by law enforcement authorities. Those results were compared with previously collected traffic demographics of those particular locations.

Using that information, the report was able to calculate how much more or less likely a minority was to be stopped by authorities.

Traveling on interstate highways in Kansas, blacks and Hispanics were three times more likely to be stopped by the Kansas Highway Patrol than were white drivers, according to the study.

The areas checked were Interstate 70 from the Colorado line to Colby; Interstate 35 from the Oklahoma line to Wichita; the Topeka area; and I-35 from mile markers 144 to 168, which is roughly between Emporia and Ottawa. Patrol command staff had suggested these areas to check because of previous concerns about profiling, the study said.

“It is clear their concerns were valid,” the report added.

¢ American Civil Liberties Union information¢ Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft Racial profiling in the U.S.

Racial profiling was found in most of the other departments that were part of the study, including Overland Park, Olathe, Osage County and Emporia.

The study found, however, that the state’s largest police department — Wichita — was not targeting blacks or Hispanics and had training well under way before the study to address racial profiling.

“The Wichita Police Department comes as close to a department that is not engaging in racial/ethnic profiling as has been seen in studies of other police agencies,” the study said.

All, the governor’s chief counsel, said his office only recently received the study and that he wanted to analyze it further before making recommendations.

It’s a complex document, and data collected by two police departments — Kansas City, Kan., and Hutchinson — were tossed out because their number of stops inexplicably decreased dramatically during the study period. And data from police in Marysville probably was not sound because of a dramatic decrease in department personnel during the study, the report indicated.

The Lawrence Police Department was not included in the study.