Dear Editor: Regarding Alan Silverman’s piece comparing crimes in the City and County of San Francisco to other counties [“An eye on crime: The reports are in,” June 2010], much as I hate to fall back on the cliché, I can find no more succinct description than “apples and oranges.”

Although the rare suburban crime of violence may make headlines, most such crimes tend to occur in urban areas. San Francisco is unique among the state’s 58 counties in being both city and county – with identical boundaries. The only appropriate comparisons would be to other cities: Los Angeles, San Diego, Oakland, San Jose, etc.

L.A. and the other counties mentioned all comprise both a city and a number of bedroom communities and smaller towns, thus lowering the per capita or per 100,000 crime statistics. If S.F. County included, say, Marin and San Mateo, its statistics would look quite different because the relatively lower crime rates in the latter two counties would bring down the overall numbers.

                                                                                                                                            – Serena Bardell