THE ACQUITTAL OF Alex Fagan Jr. in the notorious Fajitagate incident sends a terrible message – that brutality, cronyism, corruption, and incompetence are perfectly OK in the San Francisco Police Department, that it's fine for three drunk off-duty cops to beat up two men over a bag of fajitas.

It's hard to second-guess a jury verdict, but there's really no secret what happened here: The police did little or no real investigation of the Union Street assault and left the District Attorney's Office with only scant evidence to prosecute the officers involved.

But that's over now. The Office of Citizen Complaints, which has been investigating the way the SFPD responded to the incident, will be presenting its case to the commission shortly, and the commission needs to understand that this is no longer a criminal case. All the courtroom-style back and forth common in these hearings can't get in the way of basic questions facing the commissioners: Was this sordid event properly handled at all levels in a way that reflects well on the professionalism of the department and gives the public confidence in police leadership? Shouldn't someone in authority be held accountable for the mess?

The evidence on that has been available for more than two years – and the verdict is pretty clear.