Following a well-publicized racial profiling scandal in Palo Alto, California, another county in the north of the state is testing out a new program designed to teach police recruits about the inherent biases that exist within all of us.

The project, led by Lorie Fridell, also a leading expert on racial profiling, is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

"Human beings have racial biases and some of these biases are not conscious but, in fact, work below the conscious level," Fridell said, "even in people who are consciously tolerant and non-prejudiced. Our message to the trainees is: This might include you."

Amazingly, people think this whole "education" thing just might work.

East Palo Alto Police Chief Ronald Davis, a black man, is an early supporter of the program. And Lynne Johnson, the Palo Alto Chief who resigned after saying things that many took to be an admission of racial profiling, says the program "would be a great asset to law enforcement." Also sure to love it: young black men in Santa Clara County.

Palo Alto Police Chief Lynne Johnson announced her retirement yesterday, citing the uproar over comments she made in October that appeared to many to be racist.

In one of her final interviews as Chief, Johnson said what she meant to say in a city meeting on October 30 was that she wanted her officers to go after black men if they matched the description of a suspect, were acting suspicious and were in the area of the crime for which the suspect they resembled was wanted. Instead, she said this:

I do not believe we target African Americans, but I will tell you this: If you look at the suspect description … a lot of our burglars – not all of them by any means – but a lot of them are African American. So I have told my staff that, when you're out on the street, when you see African Americans … I want you to go and have consensual contacts … to see who these people are.

Contrary to how Johnson began that statement, many people believed she did target African Americans, and the outcry was deafening.

A local black minister said that though he didn't call for Johnson's ouster, many others did. He also said he doesn't believe her exit will change much in the way of young black men being harassed by police, because that's how little faith people have in cops anymore.

After the jump, a video of Johnson's fateful community meeting speech.

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Baron Pikes, a 21-year-old Louisiana man who died — cuffed and in police custody — after being tasered nine times, is not the first black man to die in police custody from excessive Taser use. He won't be the last. And then there are countless others who are shot with police Tasers — read: electrocuted — excessively and unnecessarily.

Police love Tasers because they are supposedly non-lethal weapons that keep police officers safe from unruly detainees without actually killing said detainees. One catch, of course, is that some policemen irresponsibly and sometimes sadistically overuse their Tasers… like on unarmed women who are 8-months pregnant during routine traffic stops. However, the biggest catch of all is that Tasers are only non-lethal some of the time.

How many people — and let's face it, we're talking mostly black people, here — have to die before these devices are banned? How many police officers have to be caught using them when they're not supposed to before they get snatched away?

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BAD BOYS, BAD BOYS "An off-duty reserve Wakeman [Ohio] police officer was arrested Friday after allegedly assaulting and screaming racist remarks at his estranged wife's roommate. Wakeman police officer William Hodge, 35, of Sheffield Township, is accused of punching and threatening a 26-year-old Lorain man outside an elementary school Friday morning. … The incident took place at about 8:50 a.m. Friday at Vincent Elementary School in Lorain where Hodge's 32-year-old wife, Dawn Hodge, and her roommate, Byron Hendon, were dropping off Hodge's children and several children Dawn baby-sits, a police report states. Hodge saw the van, approached it and threw his police uniform and badge at his wife, allegedly saying, 'I'm already going to jail, so you should take these.' He then pointed at Hendon and said 'you're (a) dead nigger' … "

I'm starting to feel bad for cops in South Carolina who aren't racist or inept or both. Because there are a few in their ranks who are giving the entire outfit a really bad name. I mean, purposely hitting suspects with your squad cars and then bragging about it on camera? And newly released stats showed that patrol officers in the state had used tasers during traffic stops 17 times, and 11 of those 17 people were black. State lawmakers, black ones, of course, say that even if the tasers were used properly, it demonstrates a pattern of abuse, particularly given SC cops' pattern of not doing so well with race relations. Drive the speed limit in South Carolina, dear readers. Always. [WSPA]

• A rapping monk preaches peace. Swoon. [APP]

• 14 years after apartheid fell, how's the racism in South Africa? [Guardian]

• "Can a black police officer be racist against black people?" [NYT]

• Obama's got the upper hand in PA, but can he keep it? [AP]

• One of the world's foremost arms dealers, whose weapons were used in atrocities throughout Africa, has been caught. [Time]

• This is Webbie. When did rap names get so weak? [C+D]

• Is "white Oprah" well on her way to being just that? [DListed]

• "…we’re seeing an increase in areas where you saw low black voter turnout earlier and this is actually, I believe, would be a plus for the Democratic party in the future. One of the things we see about voting is that it’s habitual so just like brushing your teeth, going to church, once you get into a habit you keep doing it over and over again and so if you can kind of start this routine, people will turn out to vote.." [News8]

• Morris Day and The Time are playing the Essence fest! Hey, somebody's gotta work while Prince's hip recovers. [Fox]

• "…11 of the 15 states with the highest poverty levels are in the South." [FS]

• The St Mary's County Sherrif's Office in Maryland has signed a pact with the local chaptr of the NAACP chapter saying that they agree that they employ too few minority officers. Headway! [WP]

Many black retired police officers in Georgia are getting paid hundreds of dollars less in monthly pension payments than their white counterparts. Until 1976, black police officers were not allowed to join a state-supported supplemental police retirement fund, so black officers who retired before then are receiving far less than they should. Even though the Georgia State Constitution forbids the state from extending new benefits to employees after they've retired, the retirees have been fighting for an equal pension for eight years.

If lawmakers don't take action in the final weeks of the legislative session, the battle will move to the courthouse this spring, said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, an Atlanta Democrat and civil rights activist leading the officers' campaign.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to go this route, but litigation appears to be our only option," Brooks said.

Ronald Hampton, executive director of the National Black Police Association, said he knows of no other state with a similar pension situation. "Only Georgia is shameless enough to still have this out there," Hampton said.

Georgia's House passed an amendment resolution twice, but both times it has gone no where in the Senate. Considering the inequalities the men faced when they were on the job in a segregated, racist atmosphere, they deserve nothing less than equality now. [CNN]

• A black Chicago police officer says that a rule barring the city's police from associating with convicted criminals discriminates against black officers, since a disproportionate number of black people are convicted with crimes. Hmmm. [CS-T]

• A political activist thinks that removing race from Alabama state documents will combat racism. Why didn't we think of this before? [WSFA]

• Maybe Pharrell Williams has better things to talk about than Britney Spears? [PA]

• Blacks in the Detroit area find the transition from city to suburbs difficult. [DN]

• Civil Rights activist-turned-Congressman John Lewis just endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Ouch, Obama. [WP]

• Thanks for making sure we know who you are from the back when you're shirtless, Vince Young. [Jossip]

• A University of Memphis football player was fatally shot on campus yesterday, and, even though police believe the shooter left campus after the incident, classes were canceled today. Happy first semester. [AP]

• Who doesn't love a celebrity plastic surgery quiz? [BV]

• It took a white kid getting tasered to shed some light on a pretty messed up police practice. [NAM]

• Another one that should always wear a hat. [C&D]

Officials in Camden, NJ, one of the deadliest cities in America, want Swizz Beatz to denounce his "stop snitching" ways before he appears at a peace rally there. He gently explains that his song, "It's Me Snitches," was just a radio edit for "It's Me Bitches." Happy, police?[IHT]

If your police department is being accused of rampant racism, don't drink out of Confederate flag mug when you meet people to discuss it. This should be common sense. [HC]

A new ad that says, "Nearly one in two African-American adults has genital herpes. Could it be you? Could it be your partner? . . . A simple blood test is the best way to know if you have it," uses a fear tactic that concerns some health specialists, because, apparently, herpes isn't the type of thing everyone should get tested for. [BG]

Baltimore's homicide rate is spiraling out of control, and the NAACP is struggling to make someone care. [BS]

The NAACP adds financial backing to the defense of the Jena Six. [EUR]