Plenty of reasons not to like Glocks, but I can't imagine "unreliable" being anywhere near the top of the list.
I'd speculate there's more to the story, perhaps concerns over AD/ND.
OTOH, Glocks and female or small/petite framed shooters sometimes don't mix well, they are prone to FTF malfs if not gripped firmly.
I don’t believe the reliability issue was in the function, especially with a necked down case. I think that many of the high volume shooters were causing mechanical issues with the metal inserts in the polymer frame. It’s, as you know, a fairly snappy round. The only other Glock I can think of chambered in something of similar mojo is the 10mm, and I don’t think those, as a rule, see as much shooting volume.
NMSP tends to hire fairly husky individuals given the lack of backup they can expect, there are several 1 officer posts that cover close to 1000 square miles. They also are the ones that get sent into little towns when the local cops either all quit or are overwhelmed. They tend to like bombproof guns. They carried S&W 4506’s for a long time, a boat anchor yes, but plenty robust.
Of course, my opinion is suspect ‘cause I’m a big .38 Super fan. :)