WHERE SOLVING CRIMES TAKES TOP PRIORITY / San Diego police outshine San Francisco's with fewer officers per capita and more ground to cover

On average, San Diego police solved 64 percent of that city's violent crime - murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults - between 1996 and 2000, analysis shows. San Francisco police solved 28 percent.

Unlike San Francisco police, San Diego police make solving such crimes the top priority. ...

... A Chronicle review of both departments found profound differences in their investigative practices.

San Diego has detailed investigative standards for each type of violent crime, frequently reviews the performance of its detectives and selects investigators based on demonstrated ability.

San Francisco has few written investigative standards, virtually no formal performance reviews and assigns inspectors to the various violent crime units based on how long their names have been on a list - not ability.

Ah, one of the many benefits of a strong union. You see, the seniority system at SFPD is a result of union demands. This is from Part 3 of a three-part series. The seniority system is discussed in Part 2.