A recent case of San Diego police possibly showing preferential treatment to an SDPD captain's son is the latest incident to hurt the credibility of the local law enforcement agency, an editorial published in the San Diego Union-Tribune stated.

Alex Guaderrama, the son of the captain, was accused of inappropriate conduct with two women and vandalism after he smashed his own car window while intoxicated in August, the Union-Tribune reported September 23. However, Guadderrama was not taken to a San Diego jail. Instead, a police officer drove him to a nearby parking lot where his mother picked him up, the article stated.

It raises "serious questions that cannot be ignored," the Tribune editorial board wrote. The controversy calls for an independent investigation of the police department that faced a scandal last year after cases of officer misconduct came to light.

Some of the officers within the police department are questioning the treatment of the captain's son and wondering why the man was never charged for his alleged crime, The Associated Press reported. The investigation into the incident was closed September 5, and San Diego police officers believe Guaderrama received special treatment, the article stated.