What happens now with Police Commissioner Dennis White?
By Adrian Walker Globe Columnist,Updated February 21, 2021, 4:35 p.m.
Email to a Friend
Dennis White was sworn in by Mayor Marty Walsh as the 43rd Commissioner of the Boston Police Department during a ceremony in the Great Hall at Faneuil Hall on Feb. 1, 2021.Jim Davis/Globe Staff
Before Mayor Marty Walsh leaves his beloved Boston for the Beltway, there is one particularly awkward piece of business left to be resolved.
Namely, that Police Commissioner Dennis White remains in limbo, having been placed on leave just days after being appointed a month ago.
Michael P. Norton
State House News Service
The outgoing Walsh administration announced Thursday morning that Boston Police Commissioner Willie Gross, who has been weighing a run for mayor, is retiring on Friday.
Walsh named BPD Superintendent Dennis White to succeed Gross and said White will become the second African American to serve as commissioner, following Gross, who was the first.
White, who serves as chief of staff under Gross, will take over the top job in the department on Friday on an acting basis, with a swearing-in planned in the coming days, according to Walsh s office. I want to thank Commissioner Gross from the bottom of my heart for his 37 years of service to the Boston Police Department and for his two and a half years leading the department as Commissioner. Throughout his decorated career, he s always embodied the spirit of community policing that is so important to building trust with the people we serve, Walsh said in a statement. Anyone who knows Willie
Gross rose from the most modest position in the police department, as a cadet, to chief of the department, earning a reputation as a streetwise cop for whom others would run through walls. He also happens to be a really nice guy.
Following abrupt retirement announcement, William Gross says he has no plans to run for office
Email to a Friend
William Gross joined the Boston Police Department in 1983.Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
William Gross, who made history as Bostonâs first Black police commissioner, announced Thursday that heâd retire from his post a day later, ending a 2½-year run atop the nationâs oldest police department and departing amid a national movement demanding reforms and accountability in law enforcement.
Gross, who was mulling a run for mayor, told the Globe Thursday afternoon that he had no plans to seek office following Mayor Martin J. Walshâs nomination as labor secretary in the Biden administration.