When McCloud is chasing the Al's repair van, the logo on its side disappears at times during the chase. There is also a shot that accidentally catches a view of the California mountains in the background.
McCloud takes a cab to Thompson's apartment. After he is accosted by the DA investigators there he is shown driving a marked patrol car.
In the opening scenes, the police car McCloud and Broadhurst are in changes from a Ford with vertical headlights to a Chevy with horizontal headlights.
The cab had an over 16 second head start on the bus, yet when it is shown after making the first turn the bus can be briefly seen moving behind it. In the subsequent scene, McCloud gets on the bus and moves it.
Contrary to what was shown in the opening scenes, Detectives such as Broadhurst do not respond to burglary in progress calls nor do they drive marked patrol cars. Both of these functions are performed by uniformed patrol officers.
At the end when Joe is calling Dispatch reporting that McCloud has stolen a bus, this is the same shot that was used when Joe called Dispatch after Joyce Janesco was murdered, only this time it was processed with the day-for-night process.
In the establishing shot to show clogged midtown traffic blocked by the bus, one can briefly see the horizon over the buildings, showing mountains in the distance, not easily observed in real-life Manhattan.
After McCloud finds the packet of powder in the van he recklessly handles it with his bare hands ruining any chance of getting fingerprints off of it.
In the final act, neither McCloud nor Broadhurst handcuff either suspect after arresting them, which is a violation of police policy and contrary to officer safety procedures.