Statement on the Termination of Boston Police Department Commissioner Dennis White

Today, after an investigation that revealed multiple domestic violence allegations against suspended Boston Police Department Commissioner Dennis White and a troubling culture of secrecy and fear within the Department, Boston Mayor Kim Janey terminated White’s employment. Casa Myrna stands behind Mayor Janey’s decision and applauds her leadership and vision for police reform.

As Mayor Janey said during her press conference announcing her decision, today “is a new day…a new vision for policing in Boston” with accountability and transparency and towards “moving Boston toward a more just and equitable future.” In addition to ending the blue wall of silence and working to ensure officers are people of integrity, Mayor Janey will implement a new sexual assault policy and update the domestic violence policy.

Casa Myrna’s CEO, Stephanie Brown, said “Mayor Janey is providing victims of domestic violence with a new message: that they can come forward and will be taken seriously. With this decision, the Mayor can begin to implement that vision.”

Casa Myrna will work with Mayor Janey and her staff  to create police and societal reform that includes: ending the culture of fear and secrecy within the Department; reducing funding for police, and reinvesting that funding in the structures and organizations that will actually make our communities safer; the provision of safe, affordable, quality housing in marginalized communities; community-based de-escalation practices that center on healing and liberation, not criminalization and incarceration; and investing in community resources, including mental health and substance misuse supports.

In line with our values of healthy relationships, justice, and community and partnership, Casa Myrna is committed to working with Mayor Janey and the criminal legal system to usher in reforms and promote police responses to domestic and sexual violence that are trauma informed, effective, transparent, and safe. Survivors, particularly Black women and all women of color who are so often marginalized by these systems, deserve to feel heard and be supported by those sworn to protect them.