Maybe a few bad apples all find their way to the same barrel and are the only barrel that can be used.
https://illinoisanswers.org/2024/05/06/robbins-police-department-most-hires-of-recently-fired-cops/
There's too many quotes in here that are jaw-dropping but I'll include this one because it's almost funny:
In 2013, Robbins Police Chief Mel Davis was fired after state officials discovered that the law enforcement credentials of his hand-picked internal affairs investigator, Douglas J. Smith, were phony. Smiths materials included a photograph of the badge that fictional character Sgt. Joe Friday used in the television show Dragnet.