Effectively yes. I forgot to mention the FBI or state equivalents earlier but, as @frankharv already pointed out, they're at least as likely to cover for a rogue police chief as to investigate them. This was especially evident in the civil rights era, when police at many levels were often the main agents of racial oppression throughout the south.
> Is this considered normal?
Yes, not because of budgets but because of US attitudes toward authority, federalism, etc. See @willcipriano's comment for an example of this in what might be its mildest form (it gets far worse). "Our police chief might be a bastard, but he's our bastard." Far bigger offenses than this one have been quietly tolerated as an alternative to intrusion from a distant capital, all over the US and all through its history.
Effectively yes. I forgot to mention the FBI or state equivalents earlier but, as @frankharv already pointed out, they're at least as likely to cover for a rogue police chief as to investigate them. This was especially evident in the civil rights era, when police at many levels were often the main agents of racial oppression throughout the south.
> Is this considered normal?
Yes, not because of budgets but because of US attitudes toward authority, federalism, etc. See @willcipriano's comment for an example of this in what might be its mildest form (it gets far worse). "Our police chief might be a bastard, but he's our bastard." Far bigger offenses than this one have been quietly tolerated as an alternative to intrusion from a distant capital, all over the US and all through its history.