👮 Officers wanted

🍂 Welcome to Monday — and the start of fall!

• Today's weather: Sunny with a high near 80.

📝 Programming note: We're spending much of this week in Minneapolis collaborating with our colleagues from across the country.

• We'll have slightly shorter newsletters, but still plenty of news. 😉

🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios Denver members Lynn Anderson, Marybeth Anderson and Barby Halliday!

Today's newsletter is 788 words — a 3-minute read.

Denver police chief Ron Thomas is raising concerns about his department's ability to recruit more officers of color.

Why it matters: It could make it harder to meet Mayor Mike Johnston's plan to bulk up the law enforcement agency by adding 168 more police officers in 2025.

State of play: Denver police has hired 75 new officers this year, according to a police spokesperson, meaning just three months are left to hire 92 new officers under the mayor's current plan.

The big picture: Thomas, the second Black police chief in department history, said during a budget hearing before Denver City Council members on Friday that adding officers would be partly achieved by hiring more women and people of color.

• The department wants to focus on attracting more female recruits with local events hosted by female officers and programs like its "community academy" that give people an inside look at the department.

Yes, but: Both Thomas and Johnston said the department's testing requirements and marijuana policy — applicants aren't allowed to have used the substance in the year before they apply — contribute to its struggle to recruit people of color.

Meanwhile, Denver Councilmember Sarah Parady said she's worried about problematic cultural issues at the police academy that make it difficult to draw recruits, especially the kind of people the department now wants to attract.

• She zeroed in on a cadet hazing incident that came to light this year after a lawsuit was filed by a Black recruit and past harassment from colleagues reported by female cadets.

By the numbers: While the department is budgeted to have up to 1,639 officers, it counted 1,546 as of July, per department data shared Friday.

Keep reading

A jury began deliberating Friday in the murder trial of Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, who faces over 100 charges for the 2021 Boulder King Soopers shooting that left 10 people dead, including a police officer.

The big picture: Alissa pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury's verdict will determine if he gets life in prison or is committed to a state mental hospital indefinitely.

Driving the news: After three weeks of testimony, 12 jurors are deciding if Alissa — who declined to testify — was sane, intended to kill and understood his actions were wrong at the time of the shooting.

The latest: During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Ken Kupfner told a packed courtroom — with Alissa's family in the front row — that "mental illness does not mean you're insane."

• He pointed to testimony from one of the survivors, a pharmacist, who said Alissa shouted, "This is such fun. This is such fun," during the shooting spree.
• Prosecutors emphasized that all doctors who evaluated Alissa found him sane at the time of the shooting, and that video of him running away when police arrived showed he understood right from wrong.

The other side: "Insanity is the only explanation for this tragedy," Alissa's defense attorney Kathryn Herold told jurors. "This tragedy was born out of disease, not choice."

• Alissa committed these crimes because he was "psychotic" and "delusional," Herold argued. "His mind was drowning in this illness. Drowning in the voices."

The intrigue: Moustafa Alissa, the gunman's father, testified last week he believed his son may have been possessed by an evil spirit before the attack.

More harrowing details

🔎 Joel Fitzgerald is no longer RTD's police chief after being on leave since July, though the transit agency's general manager and CEO Debra Johnson isn't saying why he lost his job. (CPR)

⚖️ A federal antitrust trial over the potential Kroger-Albertsons merger has finished. A final decision on the case isn't expected for about a month. (Axios Pro 🔑)

🤠 National Western president and CEO Paul Andrews, who's led the annual National Western Stock Show since 2010, will retire after the show's 2025 edition. (9News)

🚨 Aurora police are determining whether three men the agency believes were involved in an August shooting at an Aurora apartment complex are members of the Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang. (Denver Gazette)

Uber unveiled new features designed to help make the driver and courier experience safer, fairer and easier.

• An example: The national expansion of enhanced rider verification lets drivers know more about who's getting into their car.

The result: An experience drivers only find with Uber.

Learn more.

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The Denver Broncos notched a signature road victory yesterday, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-7 to secure Denver's first win of the season.

The big picture: The defense stepped up big for the Broncos, grabbing an early interception and holding the Bucs to a season-low seven points.

Between the lines: Rookie quarterback Bo Nix didn't throw for a touchdown but scored one on the ground, scrambling into the end zone from three yards out to give the Broncos the lead in the first quarter.

• Denver never trailed during the game.

What's next: The Broncos (1-2) travel to MetLife Stadium next Sunday for a midday matchup against the surging New York Jets (2-1).

Flexible work just got better for over 7 million people.

Here's why: Uber's new features are designed to help make the driver and courier experience safer, fairer and easier.

• One feature, Record My Ride, allows drivers to record trips with their smartphone instead of investing in a dashcam.

Our picks:

📅 John is back after some time off.

🎨 Alayna is stopping by the Minneapolis Institute of Art while exploring the city.

🕯️Esteban is listening to this new Bad Bunny song.

Thanks to our editor Gigi Sukin.