William Bratton says he will not remain commissioner of the New York Police Department past 2017.

The New York Times, which interviewed Bratton, says he also left open the possibility that he could leave even sooner.

The 68-year-old commissioner says he’s “still young enough” to take on “additional challenges.” He also says he’s already created a line of succession.

Bratton is in his second stint as commissioner in New York. He led the department for more than two years in the mid-1990s and began serving as Mayor Bill de Blasio’s police commissioner in January 2014.

De Blasio spokesman Eric Phillips calls the news “very much expected” after Bratton’s 45-plus years of service. Phillips says that whenever Bratton departs, he will leave behind “an unparalleled legacy of distinction.”

(AP)