Here in San Francisco, it seems, crime does pay. Or at least the San Francisco Police Department allows 70% of all violent crimes to go unsolved. Today the S.F. Chronicle reports some news about the SFPD that is unlikely to improve public confidence.

Mayor Willie Brown announced in a letter yesterday that he is "proud to nominate Cmdr. David Robinson as the first African American to head, as deputy chief, the SFPD Inspectors Bureau." Concurrently, Deputy Chief Mindy Pengel, described as "the department's most prominent openly lesbian officer", was rumored last week to be in line for a demotion. But after numerous complaints from supporters, including many from the city's gay community, Chief of Police Earl Sanders changed his mind.

Now I don't care one way or another which continent a deputy police chief's ancestors came from, nor do I care one iota about the other deputy chief's personal life. All I want to know is whether the people in charge of the SFPD are the best available people to do the serious job of ensuring public safety and catching criminals. Robinson and Pengel may in fact be the best people for their positions. But that's not what was reported. At this point, all the SFPD and the mayor should be focusing on is improving the department's competence. Anything else will only decrease the public's confidence.

And I shudder to contemplate the implications for law and order when the police department is seen as so inept that crime victims become tempted to take the law into their own hands.