Supervisor Melgar: SF clears only 14% of rape cases, half the national average

Supervisor Myrna Melgar tells the Board of Supervisors that San Francisco's rape case clearance rate has fallen to 14%, half the national average, and calls for a joint hearing on chronic understaffing in the SFPD Special Victims Unit. She cites a recent San Francisco Standard investigation showing that survivors who follow every step, collecting evidence, identifying a suspect, still face a system that fails to treat sexual assault with urgency or sensitivity. Melgar argues that low clearance rates discourage survivors from reporting in the first place, and that a prior hearing produced promises but not enough new detectives. She frames the joint hearing as a way to hold the city publicly accountable to survivors.