An elfin blond who sleeps around (and appears to have a personality disorder) with everyone from her teacher to some rando whose name she doesn't know accuses a Black man of rape.
St. Benson takes the side of the blond without question, ignoring her own racism in chasing down a Black man simply because he was accused, to the degree of screaming at his stunned family to "shut up" after she practically kicks down the door. When it goes to trial, it's discovered the blond lies, and still Benson refuses to change her mind. Is it tribalism? Is it racism? Of course it is. The defense attorney even points out the investigation cut a lot of legal corners and that if the accused had been White, the trial would never have happened.
This is all good fodder for a real examination of racism. Benson has always played loose with her own prejudices, hiding under the skirt of "standing up for victims." But the episode cops out. Instead of Benson having to face any real consequences, as usual it has to put her in a heroic spotlight. For shame.
This episode was done in 2011, when racism in the police force certainly was not an unknown problem. But now that it's post George Floyd, imagine how prescient the show might have been had it actually dealt with the racism rather than sugar coat this into yet another "Benson can do no wrong" homily. And at the end, the blond is still treated as the victim, even when the defense attorney points out that no one knows what real happened who wasn't there.