Dennis White | |
---|---|
43rd Commissioner of the Boston Police Department | |
In office February 1, 2021 – June 7, 2021 Suspended: February 3, 2021 –June 7, 2021 | |
Mayor | Marty Walsh Kim Janey (acting) |
Preceded by | William G. Gross |
Succeeded by | Michael Cox Gregory Long (acting) |
Personal details | |
Born | 1961or1962(age 62–63) [1] Boston,Massachusetts,U.S. |
Residence | Randolph,Massachusetts [2] |
Alma mater | Newbury College |
Dennis A. White (born c. 1962) is an American police officer who was briefly Commissioner of the Boston Police Department [lower-alpha 1] in 2021. After being sworn in on February 1,2021,White was placed on leave two days later,as the city conducted an investigation into a 1999 allegation of domestic violence against his wife and teenage daughter. On June 7,2021,Acting Mayor Kim Janey fired White after legal challenges. [3]
White is a native of the Four Corners area of the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, [4] and graduated from Jeremiah E. Burke High School in the Dorchester neighborhood. [5] He spent five years as a member of the Boston Fire Department. [6] In 2005,he earned a bachelor's degree in legal studies from Newbury College in nearby Brookline,Massachusetts. [5]
As of January 2021 [update] ,White had been a member of the Boston Police Department for 32 years. [4] He rose through leadership roles,becoming a deputy superintendent in 2014. [7] [1] In August 2018,Boston police commissioner William G. Gross promoted White to superintendent and named him chief of staff. [6] In 2020,White was one of two police officers on an 11-member task force assembled to review and recommend improvements to policing in Boston,following the murder of George Floyd. [8]
On January 28,2021,Gross abruptly announced his retirement,effective the next day. [4] On Gross’recommendation,Boston mayor Marty Walsh named White his successor as commissioner,with White becoming acting commissioner on January 29. [7] Formally sworn in on February 1,White became the department's 43rd commissioner and second Black commissioner. [7] [9]
On February 3,2021,White was placed on leave,in light of "the handling of a 1999 allegation of domestic violence." [5] [10] Superintendent-in-chief Gregory Long was named acting commissioner while the City of Boston hired an outside investigator to conduct an investigation. [5] [10] The 1999 incident involved White allegedly saying he “wanted to shoot" his wife and making threatening statements to his teenage daughter. These allegations resulted in a judge issuing a restraining order on May 5,1999,that forced White to vacate his home,stay away from his wife and children,and surrender his service weapon. [5] Public records requests from The Boston Globe for internal affairs records about the incident were refused by the City of Boston. [11]
On May 14,2021,White's attorneys filed a motion in Suffolk Superior Court requesting a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order,stating that acting Boston mayor Kim Janey planned to fire White,and that such removal would require a hearing and cause. [12] In a news conference later that day,Janey stated that White was still on administrative leave,awaiting outcome of the court action. [13] Also on May 14,a report from an independent investigator was released with additional details of the 1999 domestic abuse allegations. [2] The report alleged:
On May 20,lawyers for White and the City of Boston presented their arguments to a judge,with White's counsel asserting that Mayor Walsh was aware of the 1999 allegations at the time White was appointed,therefore White could not now be removed on the same grounds;in a statement,Walsh denied prior knowledge of the allegations. [15] On May 25,a judge ruled against White,denying the request for a preliminary injunction. [16] The following day,the judge granted White's attorney a motion for a delay,to "have the opportunity for a higher court to review". [17] A judge of the Massachusetts Appeals Court denied the appeal on May 27. [18] On May 31,White notified Janey of two video affidavits,from his daughter and former sister-in-law,stating that White was not an abuser and was actually the victim of domestic abuse. [19] On June 2,Janey held a hearing with White. [20] [21] That same day,White's ex-wife made public statements asserting that White did physically and emotionally abuse her. [21]
On June 7,2021,Acting Mayor Janey fired White from his position as police commissioner,ending a five-month period of limbo while independent investigations and legal challenges were conducted. [3]
In 2021,White filed suit against the City of Boston and former mayor Janey on multiple grounds,including defamation,violation of his right to privacy,and lack of due process. [22] Multiple claims were dismissed in 2022,and the remaining claims were dismissed by Leo T. Sorokin of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on August 19,2024. [22] White's lawyer stated that the dismissal would be appealed. [22]
The Boston Police Department (BPD), dating back to 1838, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. The BPD is also the 20th largest law enforcement agency in the country.
The Twelve Tribes, formerly known as the Vine Christian Community Church, the Northeast Kingdom Community Church, the Messianic Communities, and the Community Apostolic Order, is a new religious movement founded by Gene Spriggs that sprang out of the Jesus movement in 1972 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The group calls itself an attempt to recreate the 1st-century church as it is described in the Book of Acts. The group's origins in Chattanooga led to planted churches in surrounding areas. In the late seventies, the group began a community in Island Pond, Vermont. As their relationship with the Chattanooga community deteriorated, the group eventually left Tennessee and moved primarily to Vermont.
Daniel F. Conley is an American attorney and politician who served as the district attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts from 2002 to 2018. Appointed to the office in February 2002, Conley was later elected on November 5, 2002, and again in 2006, 2010, and 2014. He retired in 2018 to enter private practice.
James Draper St. Clair was an American lawyer, who practiced law for many years in Boston with the firm of Hale & Dorr. He was the chief legal counsel for President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.
On April 10, 2007, the National Football League (NFL) introduced a new conduct policy to help control on and off-field behavior by its players and preserve the league's public image. The policy, introduced by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, implements a tougher, new personal-conduct policy, and under conditions of the previous policy handed down two of the harshest suspensions in NFL history for off-field misdeeds. Each player that has been suspended must reapply for reinstatement. The policy only applies to the player's personal lives and image in the public spotlight. The NFL conducts separate investigations for drug and alcohol abuse and performance enhancement.
The Mount Cashel Orphanage, known locally as the Mount Cashel Boys' Home, was a boys' orphanage located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The orphanage was operated by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, and became infamous for a sexual abuse scandal and cover-up by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and NL justice officials.
The Murphy Report is the brief name of the report of a Commission of investigation conducted by the Irish government into the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin. It was released in 2009 by Judge Yvonne Murphy, only a few months after the publication of the report of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse chaired by Sean Ryan, a similar inquiry which dealt with abuses in industrial schools controlled by Roman Catholic religious institutes.
Felix G. Arroyo is an American political figure from Boston. Arroyo was elected to an at-large seat on the Boston City Council in November 2009, and re-elected in November 2011, serving for two terms before unsuccessfully running for Mayor of Boston in 2013. He subsequently served as the city's Chief of Health and Human Services from 2014 until his dismissal in 2017 following an investigation into sexual harassment allegations.
Michael A. Cox is an American police officer, currently serving as the commissioner of the Boston Police Department. He previously was the chief of police in Ann Arbor, Michigan from 2019 until 2022.
Francis Michael Roache was an American law enforcement officer and politician who served as the Boston Police Commissioner from 1985 to 1993. He was also a member of the Boston City Council from 1996 to 2002 and was Suffolk County Register of Deeds from 2002 to 2015.
Martin Joseph Walsh is an American politician and trade union official who served as the mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021 and as the 29th United States Secretary of Labor from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Walsh resigned from his position as the US Secretary of Labor in March 2023 in order to accept a position as executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association. Before his mayoralty, he served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing the 13th Suffolk district from 1997 until 2014. As a trade union member, Walsh worked his way up to serve as the head of the Boston Building Trades Council from 2011 until 2013.
Andrea Joy Campbell is an American lawyer and politician who is serving as the attorney general of Massachusetts. Campbell is a former member of the Boston City Council. On the city council, she represented District 4, which includes parts of Boston's Dorchester, Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, and Roslindale neighborhoods. A member of the Democratic Party, she was first elected to the council in November 2015 and assumed office in January 2016. She served as president of the council from January 2018 until January 2020. Campbell unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Boston in 2021, placing third in the nonpartisan primary election behind Annissa Essaibi George and Michelle Wu, the latter of whom would go on to win the general election.
Joseph J. Leonard was an American political figure who served as Commissioner of the Boston Police Department for 58 days.
William G. Gross is a former American police officer who served as Commissioner of the Boston Police Department for 29 months, from August 2018 to January 2021.
Kim Michelle Janey is an American politician and community organizer who served as acting mayor of Boston for eight months in 2021. She served as president of the Boston City Council from 2020 to 2022, and as a member of the council from the 7th district from 2018 to 2022. As a black woman, her tenure as acting mayor made her the first woman and the first person of color to lead the city.
The 2021 Boston mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, to elect the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. Incumbent mayor Marty Walsh was eligible to seek a third term. However, he resigned as mayor on March 22, 2021, after being confirmed as secretary of labor in the Cabinet of Joe Biden. This left the Boston City Council president, at the time Kim Janey, to hold the role of acting mayor until the victor of the election would take office.
Mass. and Cass, also known as Methadone Mile or Recovery Road, is an area in Boston, Massachusetts, located at and around the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Massachusetts Avenue. Due to its concentration of neighborhood services providing help, the area around Mass. and Cass has long attracted a large number of people struggling with homelessness and drug addiction, especially after the closure of facilities on Long Island. It has been characterized as "the epicenter of the region's opioid addiction crisis".
Ricardo N. Arroyo is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Massachusetts. He was previously a member of the Boston City Council.
Edward Michael Flynn is an American politician currently serving on the Boston City Council, representing the city's 2nd district. A member of the Democratic Party, he has held his seat since January 2017. From January 2022 until January 2024, he served as president of the Boston City Council. He is the son of former Boston mayor Raymond Flynn.
Marty Walsh served as mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 2015 through 2021.