Steve Settingsgaard. The police union gave him a vote of no confidence. Residents and some in the press criticized him for posting mug shots of prostitution and drug arrestees. Yet local government officials and many citizens defend him and even sing his praises. Why?

One word: Results.

In 2007, there were a total of 74 shootings and 16 homicides; 104 shootings and 18 homicides were logged in 2006. So far this year, there have been four homicides.

No doubt some will try to attribute these results to everything under the sun other than the police chief; and to be sure, the credit absolutely needs to be spread around. These outcomes aren’t the result of a one-man show. But you can bet if the trend were the other way, the fingers of blame would all be pointing directly at Settingsgaard.

So I say, let’s give credit where credit is due. Nobody’s perfect. We’re never going to agree on every tactic used by the chief. But let’s acknowledge and be thankful that our city has gotten safer under his watch.