Have you seen pictures of Ferguson, not where the protests are, where the people live? It looks like a decent place, with small homes with nice green lawns and sidewalks.
Cameras and dash board computers for police are usually funded by the federal government, mostly in White neighborhoods because, they would be considered harassment in a Black neighborhood. It has been my experience that technology, like dashboard computers and chip imbedded license plate tabs do result in police harassment, but it is not exactly racial, though it can be personal.
Nice neighborhoods don’t translate into tax dollars.
Look at the city budget documents. Low revenues. Dash Cams and computers are usually paid for by the local PD (see the budget docs and see where the PD is requesting funds for upgrading/buying computers for their department and vehicles). Test and validation programs are usually funded by the fed gov.
Zillow shows low cost homes, heck, even the most expensive home is below $200k: http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Ferguson-MO/45261_rid/zest_sort/38.7757,-90.254402,38.722149,-90.323582_rect/12_zm/1_fr/