Walsh backs DA’s transition team
Mayor Martin J. Walsh backed incoming District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ transition team — including a member who said he wants to redefine what it means to be a “gangster” — saying what matters is keeping city streets safe.
Rollins takes the helm as Suffolk District Attorney Jan. 2 and Walsh told the Herald yesterday he’s giving her time to smooth out the changeover.
“I am going to work with her,” Walsh said. “I want to make sure the city is safe and I want to make sure that people who do bad things are prosecuted.”
The mayor’s backing comes a day after the Herald reported that Rollins’ transition team includes Christian White, who wrote on a Facebook site that he’s looking forward to questioning prosecutors, homicide unit members and others looking to stay on in the office.
“I want everyone from The Hood to The Hills to understand how important this is. Not just for me but for everyone with a mile long CORI,” White wrote, referring to the state’s criminal records system. White also talked about fatherhood, using the hashtag “#FromSingleCellToSingleDad.”
White declined to comment yesterday about his posts, which have since been taken down.
Rollins confirmed White’s Facebook entry, saying he’s “excited” to be part of her team. She defended his “First Amendment right to post,” adding the “final decision” on who stays and who is hired in the district attorney’s office is hers alone.
Walsh said yesterday morning he has spoken to Rollins and said having people on a transition team from all walks of life is a smart approach.
“It’s important to have different points of view,” he added, stressing Rollins is inheriting a good office of dedicated prosecutors and investigators.
“That office has done a good job,” he said. He stressed what happens in the district attorney’s office is vital to how the city functions.
“We’re going to work together,” he added. “You have to let people learn their job. … Some are good choices and some you need to say, ‘We need to fix that.’
“I’d suggest it’s a slow and steady process,” Walsh added. “Whatever issues come up, we will work through them. In the heat of the campaign, a lot is said and a lot that needs to be explained.”
He was alluding to the incoming district attorney’s “decline-to-prosecute” list — including charges such as resisting arrest, drug dealing, larceny under $250 and trespassing. That controversial campaign pronouncement has upset some in law enforcement.
Rollins has said she’ll be “flexible” on how she rolls out the no-prosecute policy. For now, she’s focused on setting up her new team as the Suffolk District Attorney’s office undergoes its first new leadership in 16 years.