LOS ANGELES — When the double murder trial of O.J. Simpson ended with a stunning not-guilty verdict, the TV camera in the Los Angeles courtroom focused on the former football star and actor, who pursed his lips and mouthed "thank you" to the jury.

But after Simpson walked free, despite evidence that indicated he was behind the slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, the focus fell on another central figure in the case: the Los Angeles Police Department.

Some pinned the outcome on clever lawyering; others on the still-raw memories of the Rodney King verdict — but in many ways, the case was as much about the LAPD's reputation as it was about Simpson's guilt or innocence.

Simpson died Wednesday at 76, reviving memories of how his case roiled the LAPD, raising issues of corruption, racism and incompetence that still resonate nearly three decades later.

Almost from the start, Simpson's "dream team" of high-priced attorneys set its sights on the LAPD. At points throughout the trial, which turned into a worldwide media spectacle with 126 witnesses and 35 weeks of evidence and testimony, the defense took turns questioning the competency of police crime-lab technicians, West L.A. Division officers and the vaunted Robbery-Homicide Division.

In the days after the verdict, The Times wrote that "no part of the criminal justice establishment took a more punishing beating" during the trial than the LAPD, "whose officers and technicians were charged at various times with bigotry, deceit, ignorance and garden-variety incompetence."

The defense played for the jury tapes of the prosecution's star witness, LAPD homicide detective Mark Fuhrman, casually using the N-word while describing tales of police delivering beatings, falsifying arrests, planting evidence and generally singling out minorities for harsh and brutal treatment.

In response to the Fuhrman tapes, the department and the Police Commission launched internal investigations into the events described, and leaders pledged a renewed effort to weed out what critics described as the casual racism in the department. The LAPD also pushed for funding to proceed with improvements to its troubled crime lab.

Yet after the verdict, Willie Williams, the chief at the time, struck a defensive tone, according to reports, saying the LAPD was no more afflicted with racism than any other large diverse, organization. Williams called the trial "devastating" for department employees who "had to listen to so much and be blamed."

For the LAPD, the case was a reminder of a period that leaders would rather forget. That sentiment was reflected in the brief statement the department released hours after Simpson's death was announced: "Interactions between O.J. Simpson and the Los Angeles Police Department are well documented. In his passing, there is nothing for the Department to add to this narrative."

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