Statistics show that the SFPD is highly effective at solving homicides, but is the worst in the state at solving most other crimes

The good news is that the SFPD solved 94% of all homicides committed in SF last year. The bad news is that of all major police departments in California, the SFPD ranks worst at solving almost every other type of crime.

The California Department of Justice just released 2023 arrest data for California’s largest cities, allowing residents to compare arrest data from the state’s largest police departments. But the information is in a confusing collection of CSV, PDF, and Excel files that aren’t particularly user-friendly.

So today’s Chronicle has gone through that data and produced a series of easy-to-understand graphs. The one thing that immediately stands out is that the San Francisco Police Department is the largest police department in California when it comes to solving murders. As seen below, the SFPD had a pound sterling 94% success rate in solving murdersnot only at the top in the state, but well above the national police average of 58%. So that’s just excellent.

Less excellent? The Chronicle notes that the SFPD ranks worst among California’s major police departments at solving other crimes, such as assaults and robberies. Keep in mind that this data only compares the largest cities in California (SF, Los Angeles, Fresno, Sacramento, and San Diego). And San Jose’s data isn’t in this mix because that city hasn’t submitted complete data for the 2023 calendar year.

The statistics measure “clearance rates,” which refer to whether the crime resulted in an arrest and charges being filed. If the suspect dies, this still counts as a solved crime and is added to the resolution percentage.

And the SFPD’s clearance rates are relatively low for robberies and assaults. When it comes to assaults, the SFPD only arrested suspects 37% of the time in 2023 (compared to the state’s #1 force, San Diego Police, at 48%, and the national average is 46%) . In the robbery category, the SFPD arrested suspects only 20% of the time last year, while the San Diego Police Department had a 35% arrest rate (the national average was 28%).

But those robbery numbers look a little different when you break down the robberies into their specific categories: burglaries, auto theft and larceny. In burglaries and car thefts, the SFPD ranks a respectable No. 2 statewide, again behind San Diego.

But the SFPD has by far the lowest arrest rate when it comes to theft, including the infamous local crime of car burglaries. Our very low arrest rate of 3.6% is driving a downward trend in theft rate, and compares poorly with the Fresno Police Department’s arrest rate of 8.1% and the much higher national average of 15%.

An SFPD spokesperson makes the very valid point that since car burglaries are usually carried out by prolific serial criminals, one arrested suspect could have been responsible for a host of other car burglaries that are still considered unsolved.

And there is a silver lining to this particular crime, as car burglaries in SF have dropped significantly so far in 2024 compared to 2023.

Related: SF murders are down so far this year, but it could have just been three in one week (SFist)

Image: San Francisco Police Department via Facebook