San Diego Police Officer Tyler Cockrell has taken his own department to court, filing a civil lawsuit yesterday against the City of San Diego that accuses high-ranking officials and supervisors of years of harassment and retaliation. Cockrell, who joined SDPD in 2005 and describes himself in the complaint as a 20-year veteran, claims he was repeatedly passed over for promotions and saw his work privileges scaled back after personal disputes at home spilled into the workplace. His suit seeks monetary damages and court-ordered relief that his attorneys say is needed to curb what they describe as an ongoing pattern of retaliation.
According to CBS 8, Cockrell traces much of his alleged mistreatment to what he describes as an inappropriate relationship involving his ex-wife, Stephanie Audette, and other figures inside the department, and to a formal complaint his girlfriend filed against Audette. The lawsuit alleges that by 2021 his supervisors began passing him over for promotions and that in March 2024, Audette told him she was responsible for his loss of overtime privileges, according to court documents. CBS 8 reports the City Attorney’s Office and the San Diego Police Department did not respond to requests for comment on the new filing.
Background And Earlier Complaints
The lawsuit drops into a long-running swirl of public allegations and internal probes that have followed Audette, now known as Stephanie Cockrell, for years. As reported by NBC 7, she publicly announced plans in 2025 to sue the department and has been tied to earlier litigation dating back to 2016 and to complaints first raised in 2013. That coverage detailed allegations ranging from phone-hacking claims to hidden-camera purchases and described a small outside probe the city ordered into senior staff, all of which helped keep the controversy in the public eye.
Allegations, Filings And Legal Details
In his new complaint, Cockrell says he sought a domestic violence restraining order in September 2024 and contends that the City Attorney’s Office later filed misdemeanor vehicle-registration charges against him in 2025 as part of the same pattern of retaliation. He accuses his ex-wife of stalking and of placing a tracking device on his vehicle, and he links decisions about his assignments, overtime, and promotion prospects to those private disputes. Those specific allegations come from court filings reviewed by CBS 8.
Officials' Response And Next Steps
The San Diego Police Department has historically declined to comment on related internal-personnel disputes, and local reporting has noted that the city has not publicly released full findings from outside reviews of senior leadership. As 10News previously reported in coverage of earlier, connected litigation, SDPD would not comment when asked about those claims, and it remains unclear how the city will formally respond to Cockrell’s new lawsuit. The case now moves into the civil-court process, where discovery could potentially pull internal records and personnel files into public view.
Cockrell’s filing is the latest chapter in a long, messy dispute that has already triggered multiple complaints, drawn sustained media scrutiny, and raised uncomfortable questions about how the department handles internal grievances and allegations of favoritism. This story is still unfolding, and additional court documents and official responses are expected to surface as the case moves forward.
