State's top cop: 'Criminals target Lane County'
EUGENE, Ore. -- Crime rates are dropping dramatically throughout Oregon. But in Lane County the numbers are going the other way.
Attorney General John Kroger blames the increases in crime on a lack of funding for criminal justice.
"We are 100 percent convinced that criminals, particularly property criminals, target Lane County because they know that there isn't going to be effective prosecution or conviction if they're caught," Kroger told KVAL News on Thursday. "Lane County has got increasing property and violent crime, and it's not a mystery to me why that's the case."
Watch Kroger talk about Lane County crime
Kroger said a shortage of police on the streets, prosecutors in the courtroom and jail beds translates to more crime.
