Posted on 02/04/2021 6:53:47 AM PST by raccoonradio
(Boston) Mayor Martin Walsh has placed new Police Commissioner Dennis White on leave after “disturbing” decades-old allegations of domestic violence surfaced less than three full days after he was sworn in.
Walsh, in a statement Wednesday night after The Boston Globe unearthed allegations against White, first noted the abrupt departure of now-former Commissioner William Gross, saying the mayor made the decision “quickly” to pick Gross’s chief of staff White to step into the role.
“In an attempt to create a smooth transition and honor former Commissioner Gross’s desire to spend time with his family, Dennis White was asked to quickly step into the role of Police Commissioner, beginning last Friday,” Walsh said in a statement.
“These disturbing issues were not known to me or my staff, but should have been at the forefront,” Walsh added. “Upon learning of these serious allegations, I immediately acted, placing the Commissioner on administrative leave, while corporation counsel engages outside counsel to conduct a full and impartial investigation. In the interim, Superintendent-in-Chief Gregory Long will serve as acting Commissioner.”
The Globe reported the 22-year-old allegations of domestic abuse, the existence of which were confirmed to the Herald. Further information about the details of the allegations weren’t immediately confirmable Wednesday night.
The mayor suddenly announced the retirement of Gross, the city’s popular first Black top cop, last Thursday in an abrupt email. Gross, who had been rumored as a mayoral candidate, was to retire the next day, with then-Superintendent White stepping in as the acting commissioner, Walsh announced in the news release. Gross then said he wouldn’t be running for office and wanted to spend more time with his family after 37 years with BPD.
In an interview with the Herald the day of that announcement, White pledged to continue reforms and increase transparency.
Walsh then swore White in on Monday, entrusting him with the $250,000-a-year gig. White, the city’s second Black police commissioner, is a native of Dorchester’s Four Corners area and a veteran for 32 years on the force.
This news broke just over half a day before Walsh was due for a hearing before the U.S. Senate. The mayor is President Biden’s pick to serve as Labor secretary, and a Senate committee is scheduled to vet him at 10 a.m. Thursday.
And NOW these allegations about the new police head come out.
The patriotic resistance or a vindictive Democrat/communist?
Boston—everyone’s a Democrat, even the Republicans.
>>onor former Commissioner Gross’s desire to spend time with his family
So decade old charges of domestic abuse come out AFTER he is sworn in and the remedy is to step down and spend time at home with family that he allegedly abuses?
There an easy out for this guy.
He could claim to be a muzzie. Wife-beating is an accepted practice for those folks.
Is there any other kind?
CC
The DV accusations are on White, the successor to Gross, though Gross’ retirement was abrupt and one wonders
if something’s up.Everyone knows Walsh
is nominated to be labor sec. and there
is a senior City Councillor who would be acting mayor till the next election.
I believe Boston Mayor is a 4 year term
and elections are held in an odd year.
It was said recently that they may
want to just wait for the next regular
election rather than calling for a
special one.
So it is White who started Monday and is the subject of these accusations, as
Gross goes back to his family—now,
does White have a wife and kids and
his suspension puts him in contact
daily with them...?
> He could claim to be a muzzie. Wife-beating is an accepted practice for those folks. <
Yes, but evidently only a thin cane or stick is permitted. So,
Fishing rod - okay
Baseball bat - not okay
Looked up...Pres. of Boston City Council
is Kim Janey, who would be the first black
woman as (acting) mayor.
City councillors Michelle Wu and
Andrea Campbell are among the mayoral
candidates. Janey has yet to declare
interest in becoming mayor for a
full term but she apparently has
not raised any money last month.
Walsh due to be vetted for labor sec post.
Whoever was in charge of vetting White
apparently was unaware of the
DV accusations. Does that affect his
chances to be approved?
Wiki on White
In office
February 1, 2021 –
February 3, 2021 (placed on leave)
If he ultimately has to step down
that’s a very brief tenure...in a
high paying job
MassLive:
In May 1999, White, a police sergeant at the time, was issued a restraining order and required to vacate his home, stay away from his wife and children and surrender his service gun, the Globe reported, citing court documents.
According to the Globe. in her application for the restraining order, White’s then-wife of roughly 20 years wrote that they argued a lot, that he was “always trying to push” her down and that she was afraid that he may kill her “because he is angry.”
The newspaper reported that White’s wife accused him of pushing her and hitting her once. One of the couple’s friends also claimed that after a confrontation with his wife and another acquaintance, White said he wanted to shoot them, according to the Globe’s reporting.
In a divorce filing a year after the restraining order was issued, a lawyer representing White’s wife claimed he admitted to hitting her once and sleeping with a gun under his pillow, though an attorney for White wrote he “adamantly denies ever striking the wife [or] threatening to cause her harm.”
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