Officer reports 3d threatening note

A Latina Boston police officer, whose demotion has drawn protests from Hispanic law enforcement officials, got a third anonymous letter yesterday that her allies described as threatening.

Sergeant Detective Gladys Aquino-Gaines received the letter, which had been sent by US mail, at her home in Andover, said local police and a spokesman for the Massachusetts Hispanic Law Enforcement Association. They said the window of her storm door had been smashed Wednesday night.

"We have no idea what caused the storm door to break," said Andover Police Sergeant John N. Pathiakis. "It was not a gun, not a bullet-type thing."

He said detectives searched for projectiles at the home after the 10:30 p.m. incident but did not find any BB gun ammunition or a rock.

Abel Cano Jr., spokesman for the Hispanic law enforcement group, said last night that the letter Aquino-Gaines found, which had spelling and other errors, warned that she should accept her demotion or face unspecified consequences.

Cano declined to make the text of the letter public, but said the association has contacted Attorney General Martha Coakley's office and other law enforcement agencies about the series of notes.

"There is no place in this society for this kind of action," said Cano, who added that Aquino-Gaines's daughter was upset by the attack on the family's home. "This affects everybody."

Aquino-Gaines, 48, was promoted to deputy superintendent by former commissioner Kathleen O'Toole in 2004 but demoted last month by her successor, Commissioner Edward Davis.

John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com.