(CNN) -- There's a killer on the loose and Los Angeles is on edge -- again. This jaded city has witnessed every variety of killing, from Charles Manson and his helter-skelter spree to the Night Stalker's deadly nocturnal prowling and the random strikes of the Hillside Strangler, the Freeway Killer and the Grim Sleeper. This one is different: The suspect is an ex-cop with an ax to grind, and he's allegedly targeting other cops. This one crosses the blue line, the one cops think separates the good guys from the bad. This one picks at one of L.A.'s barely healed scabs, the scandals of the Los Angeles Police Department.
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Suspect Christopher Dorner's manifesto says he is waging war against "corrupt" LAPD
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Lawyers, analysts, others say the department has improved since earlier scandals
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Rodney King beating, Rampart evidence-planting scandals led to court oversight, reforms
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Dorner trained to be an officer, but LAPD alleged he filed a false report of excessive force
Investigators tied the slayings to @placeholder; his manifesto seems to confirm the connection: It says the slain woman's father represented Dorner, unsuccessfully, at a hearing before an LAPD disciplinary committee in 2008.