Boston Police Head Turned NYPD Commissioner Retires Amidst Echoes of Boston Bombing

NEW YORK, NY — Former Boston Police Commissioner William J. Bratton stepped down from his post as head of the New York Police Department this weekend, capping the second of two stints as NYPD Commissioner hours before an improvised explosive device threw the city into turmoil.

In a letter posted to the NYPD's website in advance of his retirement, Bratton said his second stint at the head of the nation's largest police force effectively ended at midnight on Sept. 18.

At about 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 17, an improvised explosive devise rocked Manhattan's busy Chelsea neighborhood, sending shrapnel flying, and injuring at least 29 people.

The blast shattered windows, shook buildings, closed subways and blocked buses from their routes, Chelsea Patch reports.

Read More: Chelsea Explosion Latest: 29 Injured in New York City Blast

But Bratton was already out the door.

On Friday, he reportedly did the traditional "walkout," striding out the door of NYPD headquarters with wife Rikki Klieman at his side about 3 p.m., moments after his successor, James P. O’Neill, was sworn in during a private ceremony with the mayor.

O'Neill's public swearing-in will take place Monday, Newsday reports.

It will follow two days spent facing the kinds of uncertainty and fear sadly familiar in Bratton's Boston stomping grounds.

The IED that detonated Saturday appeared to be a pressure cooker rigged to explode similarly to the devices used in the Boston Marathon bombings, sources told Chelsea Patch. The device had wires protruding and what appeared to to be a cell phone taped to it.

Police are now left combing through surveillance footage, seeking to identify the perpetrator.

Unlike Boston, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters, there are believed to be no ties to international terrorism.

"A bomb exploding in New York is obviously an act of terrorism, but it’s not connected to international terrorism," Cuomo said Sunday morning. "But there is no link, at this time, at this preliminary stage, to international terrorism."

Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, who oversaw police activity during the Marathon Bombing and its aftermath, told WBZ-TV Sunday the detonators used in New York are more complex than those used in Boston.

“These things were detonated by cell phones which is a step up in sophistication from the bombings here in Boston,” Davis told the TV station, for which he is a security analyst. “That gives them the ability to detonate from anywhere, it’s very troubling.”

Newly sworn-in NYPD Commissioner O'Neill took on the kind of leadership and public safety challenges Davis encountered mere hours after Bratton's departure.

Bratton now joins the public relations and consulting firm Teneo, as Senior Managing Director and Executive Chairman of a new division focused on advising clients on risk identification, prevention and response.

The 68-year-old Dorchester native previously led both the Boston and Los Angeles police departments, and expressed gratitude in his letter of resignation, to the mayor, New York citizens, and the officers he led.

Bratton wrote in closing, "Thank you again for the extraordinary privilege and opportunity to serve you and the citizens of New York and, for the second time, to serve proudly alongside the greatest cops on Earth. The men and women of the NYPD are truly New York’s Finest."

Photo Credit: Diana Robinson via Flickr/Creative Commons