Police Chief Resigns Amid Accusations of Racial Profiling

The City of Palo Alto has announced that its controversial Police Chief will resign on December 19. 


Chief Lynne Johnson sparked protests and a November 9 march on the city when she stated in late October that she had instructed officers on her force to make "consensual contact" with African American men to counter a crime spike in Palo Alto. 

Her remarks were reported in news reports worldwide and the topic of racial profiling became a much discussed issue at subsequent city council meetings. Some city officials took the opportunity to acknowledge that racial profiling exists and must be combatted, while others took the stance that the police chief "merely misspoke".

Chief Johnson repeatedly tried to apologize, defending her original statement with "I meant to say" prefacing each new explanation. However she demonstrated no apparent understanding of the error she made in directing the officers to look for African Americans with do-rags when victims of a 5-month city-wide crime spree had variously described suspects as being of African American, Pacific Islander, Latino or white descent.

Palo Alto Vice Mayor Peter Drekmeier said of racial profiling, "I think we all know it's a pretty big problem here, and it's not a new problem." Mayor Larry Klein announced during the ensuing ruckus that an independent police audit will be conducted to review the city's racial profiling policies.

Chief Johnson has been the target of other criticism in recent years, including what many feel was an over-reaction to a small anarchist rally in downtown Palo Alto in June 2005. To bolster the Palo Alto police force, Chief Johnson had all other police agencies in Santa Clara County plus the California Highway Patrol send a combined 233 officers to Palo Alto for about seven hours on the afternoon and evening and June 25. In addition Palo Alto was charged for the use of a police helicopter from the city of San Jose. The total cost to the city of Palo Alto is estimated to have been around $200,000 for police protection for a pre-announced anarchist rally, apparently organized by local teenagers, that began around 7 p.m. and ended about 10 p.m.