Menino Appoints Interim Top Cop On Davis' Last Day

Update at 4:10 p.m.: Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has appointed Supt. William Evans to interim police commissioner.

Evans will serve in the interim post until the next mayor — to be elected Tuesday — appoints a permanent commissioner early next year.

“The Boston Police Department will be in great hands under the leadership of Bill Evans,” Menino said in a press release announcing the decision. “He knows how to manage his team of talented officers, has the respect of the rank and file and has proven his ability to diffuse even the most difficult of public safety situations.”

Evans is a 31-year veteran of the department.

Original post:

Boston's top cop is moving on.

Friday is Police Commissioner Ed Davis' last day at headquarters. He announced in September that he planned to move on after seven years on the job. One of his final tasks was helping make sure that celebrations following the Red Sox' World Series victory at Fenway Park didn't get out of hand.

Davis became a nationally recognized figure in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings in April.

In separate interviews with The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald on Thursday, the 57-year-old Davis said he would be open to running another big-city police department in the future, but for now plans to spend time outside of law enforcement.

Retiring Boston Mayor Thomas Menino is expected to name an interim commissioner to serve until the city's next mayor names a permanent replacement.

Update by the WBUR Newsroom; earlier report by The Associated Press