New Boston mayor names veteran city cop as police commissioner

BOSTON (Reuters) - Newly elected Boston Mayor Marty Walsh on Thursday plans to name William Evans, a 31-year-veteran of the city's police force, as its new police commissioner. Evans has been in the job in an interim capacity since Edward Davis, who was thrust into the national spotlight for his steady leadership after the April 15 bombing attack at the Boston Marathon, stepped down late last year. "Commissioner Evans has been an invaluable resource to me during this transition period, and I know that his expertise and governance of the Police Department will be a key component to my Administration," said Walsh, a Democrat who succeeds Boston's longest-serving mayor, Thomas Menino, who retired after 20 years in office. Evans long served as one of Davis' top deputies, playing a key role in response to the bombing. He also served as the department's lead in managing relations with the 2011 Occupy Boston camp, part of a national movement of protesters who argued that the U.S. economic system no longer worked to the benefit of most Americans. Evans was on site the night Menino ordered the encampment in front of the city's Federal Reserve headquarters abandoned after 70 days as winter temperatures set in. Rather than forcibly clearing the camp, under Evans' leadership the police allowed protesters to slowly trickle away over a couple of days, avoiding the violent confrontations seen in New York and California. (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Rosalind Russell)