Janey Holds Termination Hearing For Suspended Boston Police Commissioner Dennis White
BOSTON (CBS) – A termination hearing was held Wednesday morning for suspended Boston Police Commissioner Dennis White.
White made his case to Acting Mayor Kim Janey about why he should keep his job. The hearing was virtual and was closed to the public and the media.
"I will make a decision after careful deliberation," Janey said in a statement after the session ended.
White was suspended two days after he was appointed commissioner by then-Mayor Marty Walsh in February when decades-old accusations of domestic violence surfaced.
In a prepared statement, White told Janey, "I want to be Commissioner and I believe it would set the City back if I am removed."
"Let's be clear. I am a Black man, who has been accused falsely of crimes, I have not yet been given a fair trial, and I'm on the brink of being convicted, or terminated which is the equivalent here. As you know, that is a pattern that has been repeated in this country for centuries," White said. "I believe it will be bad for Boston if that pattern is repeated here with me."
"I also know that with the distribution of the investigator's report and the City's statements about it, my reputation has been destroyed wrongly. If I am terminated under the current circumstances, I will never be able to resurrect my
reputation, I will never be able to clear my name, and my livelihood will be destroyed. I ask that you not do that to me. I ask for a chance to complete my term and to work with you to move the City and the Police forward."
White's lawyer released new video affidavits Tuesday where the commissioner revealed more about what he says Walsh knew about the domestic violence allegations against him.
"Well I mentioned that I had a restraining order put on me with false allegations that I threatened to shoot somebody and that was pretty much it," White said in the video.
He was then asked if Walsh knew about the restraining order and replied, "Oh yes."
In the sworn video affidavit, White claims he had personal conversations with Walsh over the years in which he disclosed information about his divorce and domestic abuse allegations against him.
White says those accusations, which date back to the 1990s, are false.
His daughter and former sister-in-law also recorded video affidavits claiming White was the victim and his ex-wife was the aggressor.
White's attorney is trying to make the case that because Walsh knew about the allegations at the time White was appointed police commissioner, there is no cause to terminate him now.
Walsh, who is now Labor Secretary, continues to insist he did not know about White's history.