Denver’s newest manager of safety, Charles Garcia, has fired Devin Sparks and Randy Murr, two of the Denver police officers accused of wrongfully beating Michael DeHerrera in LoDo almost two years ago, triggering a range of responses from Denver officials and candidates for mayor. The officers were dismissed for their “deceptive acts,” Garcia says, declining to elaborate further because the officers are expected to appeal (7News).

Denver’s acting mayor, Bill Vidal, says he supports Garcia’s decision, and several candidates for mayor—including Denver City Council members Carol Boigon, Michael Hancock, and Doug Linkhart, as well as leading contenders Chris Romer and James Mejía—believe the systems being used to address the situation are not working (Denver Post). But candidates like Jeff Peckman, Thomas Wolf, and Danny Lopez disagree, saying they work, just not quickly enough.

The brutality issue may not be the toughest one facing the next mayor, who will be charged with cutting even more from personnel and police department budgets after three consecutive years of shortfalls (Denver Post).