BEHIND THE SHIELD

The ongoing legal and familial drama surrounding Boston Police Commissioner Dennis White and his effort to stay in his post continued to roil City Hall, as White’s ex-wife and younger daughter went public with fresh details of abuse they say White directed at them.

Police Commissioner Dennis White, fighting for his job on the eve of a termination hearing, released a sworn statement in which he recounted telling former mayor Marty Walsh that he had been the subject of a restraining order when he was accused in the late 1990s of threatening to shoot his former wife. Acting Mayor Kim Janey said city authorities on Wednesday will hear what White has to say and take everything into account.

The allegation, first disclosed last week in a failed court motion by William Gross’ successor Dennis White to thwart White’s firing as commissioner, raised new questions about what then-mayor Martin J. Walsh knew of White’s history of domestic violence allegations before he appointed him to lead the police force four months ago.

A Massachusetts court has denied Boston Police Commissioner Dennis White’s appeal of a ruling that would have cleared the way for his firing, meaning that Acting Mayor Kim Janey is now free to proceed with a hearing to terminate the city’s embattled top cop.

A report investigating how Boston police handled past domestic violence allegations against Commissioner Dennis White vividly illustrated why many victims don’t trust the police, one specialist said.

A Suffolk Superior Court judge rejected Dennis White’s attempt to block his firing, a decision that clears the way for Acting Mayor Kim Janey to resume her effort to dismiss him following decades-old domestic violence allegations.

Former police commissioner William Gross said in an explosive court filing that former Boston mayor Marty Walsh knew about the domestic violence allegations against Dennis White when Walsh appointed him to lead the force. Walsh, however, said the allegations are false. The struggle over control of the department will continue Thursday morning in court.

Sergeant Brian Dunford was arraigned in Quincy District Court on Tuesday, the Norfolk district attorney's office said.

As the city absorbs and responds to the report by attorney Tamsin Kaplan, numerous critics say it provides fresh evidence that former mayor Marty Walsh failed to fully investigate White’s background.

The release of the findings of an outside investigation into the decades-old domestic violence allegations against suspended police commissioner Dennis White triggered a flood of reactions from community and political leaders, who questioned how White was able to rise through police ranks and head the nation’s oldest police force.

The report on past allegations of domestic violence against Dennis White, named Boston Police commissioner in February, uncovered more graphic and startling details than earlier reports, and pointed to attempts at secrecy by BPD and City Hall.

Boston’s Acting Mayor Kim Janey released the devastating findings Friday of an outside investigation into embattled police commissioner Dennis White and made clear her desire for his removal. White filed an injunction to prevent his ouster, claiming Janey did not have the authority to remove him.