The panel based its conclusion that the tests were biased on the relatively poor performance of black and Hispanic applicants.

The number of Hispanic applicants fell 12.2 percent.

The department introduced the alternative scoring systems because black and Hispanic applicants did worse on the tests than whites.

The most qualified black and Hispanic applicants often disdain police work for jobs with higher salaries.

Hispanic applicants were denied loans about 50 percent more often than whites were.

Over the next few years, three area housing projects will accept only black and Hispanic applicants for vacancies.

The data show that black and Hispanic applicants are two to three times more likely to be turned down for a mortgage than whites.

Even so, the researchers concluded that black and Hispanic applicants with equal qualifications were 60 percent more likely to be turned down by lenders.

During that time, nearly one in three black and Hispanic applicants was denied credit, while only 13 percent of white applicants were turned away.

Many restaurant and hotel jobs once held by blacks now go to white and Hispanic applicants.