Lewis Joseph Valentine (March 19, 1882 – December 16, 1946) was the

New York City Police Commissioner The New York City Police Commissioner is the head of the New York City Police Department and presiding member of the Board of Commissioners. The commissioner is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the mayor. The commissioner is responsib ...

from 1934 to 1945, under Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia during the

Murder, Inc. Murder, Inc. (Murder, Incorporated) was an organized crime group, active from 1929 to 1941, that acted as the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicatea closely connected criminal organization that included the Italian-American Mafia, the ...

era. He was the author of an autobiography ''Night stick: The autobiography of Lewis J. Valentine.'' He was Police Commissioner of New York for eleven years, longer than any other previous person in that position.

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Ma ...

credited him with cleaning up the department so that New York City had one of the most honest police departments in the nation. After New York, he advised the Tokyo Police Force.

Biography

He was born on March 19, 1882. Valentine joined the New York Police Department in 1903, at age 21. He specialized in combatting police corruption attracting the attention of Mayor LaGuardia who appointed him as the city's police commissioner in 1934. He died on December 16, 1946.

Biography

References

See also