BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Boston Acting Mayor Kim Janey announced that she had fired suspended Boston Police Commissioner Dennis White on Monday afternoon.
White served as commissioner for two days before being put on leave amid decades-old domestic abuse allegations in February.
Mayor Janey said White admitted that he had "hit and pushed" members of his own household in a private hearing. However, Janey said that White's actions in recent weeks "have done even more to erode public trust in his judgment and ability to lead."
Janey blasted what she described as White's "campaign to villify" his ex-wife and said he "failed to fully co-operate" with the city's investigation. She said his presence at Boston Police Headquarters while on leave confused officers and may have created an atmosphere of intimidation.
The mayor said that if White was reinstated, it would reinforce "a culture of fear and a blue wall of silence" in the Boston Police Department.
White has repeatedly insisted that the domestic violence allegations against him are false. White's lawyer Nick Carter described him as "deeply disappointed" with the decision in a press release. The lawyer said that White was falsely accused, and that the investigation into him was biased, as it never interviewed one of White's daughter's, Tiffany White, and another witness.
Carter said the decision had "destroyed a good man's name and livelihood," and that White will take the city back to court.
The city will conduct a national search for a new police commissioner, which Mayor Janey said should be complete toward the end of the year.
In the coming weeks, the mayor will create a committee to brainstorm what the city wants to see in a police commissioner.
WBZ's Karyn Regal (@Karynregal) reports:
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