Police in most Massachusetts communities disproportionately ticket and search minority drivers, according to a team of Northeastern criminal justice researchers.

The preliminary report on racial profiling, conducted for the state by the university’s Institute on Race and Justice, does not identify motives for traffic stops. But it does reveal some troubling patterns that should be further examined, the researchers say.

“This report should serve as a springboard for conversation about traffic-enforcement practices between local police and members of their community,” says Jack McDevitt, associate dean for graduate studies and research at the College of Criminal Justice, and director of the Institute on Race and Justice. “The message to local police is, ‘Maybe you have some legitimate reason why you would have disparities. But the community might want to know.’”

Milton, a town just south of Boston, showed the widest gap in ticketing. Minorities there were issued 58 percent of tickets, although they represented just 16 percent of drivers. Minority drivers in Boston—33 percent of the total number of drivers—received 50 percent of the tickets. Other communities with wide gaps included Avon, Methuen, Lawrence, Boylston, and Springfield.

The study also found gender-based disparities; many communities ticketed men disproportionately more than women.

The state legislature ordered the study four years ago after minorities complained about racial profiling. Institute on Race and Justice researchers, who had previously conducted a similar study for the state of Rhode Island, looked at more than 1.3 million traffic tickets issued between April 2001 and June 2003.

To estimate the percentage of minority drivers in each municipality, the researchers examined census figures as well as employment, retail, and entertainment activity that would increase the number of drivers from other towns.

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