A television news crew in Oakland, California, was held up by armed robbers while interviewing the city’s director of violence prevention on steps of the City Hall, just hours after the police chief warned of a surge in crime amid law enforcement budget cuts. The incident took place on Monday afternoon, when two suspects approached…

The Oakland City Council approved a budget on June 24 that will redirect $17.4 million from its police department to other programs over the course of two years. The city council voted 7–2 to adopt the plan that would cut $17 million from the police department and direct the funds instead to a violence prevention…