Well.....FWIW....as many here know, my son-in-law is a police officer in one of San Diego County's cities. He is not SDPD.
I've asked him several times, "What's up with SDPD?" His answer has been, "What do you expect?"
I think a large city department is much more susceptible to corruption and problems than the smaller ones.
If you haven't already, see what you can find about the case of Dale Akiki a few years back. That was a doozy !! It had political fingerprints all over it too.