Boston Top Cop Leaves Department

Boston's even-handed police commissioner who gained national attention for his management of the Boston Marathon bombing and manhunt announced Monday he will leave the agency.

Police Commissioner Edward Davis will step down later this year to pursue a fellowship at Harvard University, he said at a Monday press conference at police headquarters. Davis will teach and take courses at Harvard's Institute of Politics.

Davis' decision to leave the Boston Police Department coincides with the departure of Mayor Thomas Menino, who has held the city's top elected office for the past decade.

Commissioner Davis said he's "leaving on my own timeline" and not as a result of recent criticism by activist groups that the agency's command staff lacks diversity, reports the Boston Globe .