Update on Crime in Eugene

At the beginning of December I wrote about a crime spree in Eugene.

It seems to have stopped being newsworthy, which is obviously good news. The background problem is that county jails were expanded a few years ago with bond money but state and local taxes do not suffice to adequately staff them. Even local judges are complaining. While my family was on vacation the problem could have gotten worse as easily as better.

Meanwhile, government money is buying cell phones and television boxes for people.

Speaking of crime, someone recently sent me a link to an article with a curious statistic that I do not know how to go about double checking. It's too "big" to accept as true now (or in 1993) without further research.

The relationship [between single-parent families and crime] is so strong that controlling for family configuration erases the relationship between race and crime and between low income and crime.
- cited by Barbara Whitehead in the Atlantic Monthly in an article from 1993

Is this true? If anyone knows more, please let me know. I also wonder if a gender imbalance could cause such an effect.