Lewis Joseph Valentine

Lewis Joseph Valentine
“Muss ‘em Up” Valentine in June 1935
New York City Police Commissioner
In office
1934–1945
Appointed byFiorello H. LaGuardia
Preceded byJohn Francis O'Ryan
Succeeded byArthur William Wallander
Personal details
Born(1882-03-19)March 19, 1882
Brooklyn, New York
DiedDecember 16, 1946(1946-12-16) (aged 64)
New York City

Lewis Joseph Valentine (March 19, 1882 – December 16, 1946) was the New York City Police Commissioner from 1934 to 1945, under Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia during the Murder, Inc. era. He was the author of an autobiography Night stick: The autobiography of Lewis J. Valentine.[1] He was Police Commissioner of New York for eleven years, longer than any other previous person in that position.[2] Time magazine credited him with cleaning up the department so that New York City had one of the most honest police departments in the nation.[3]

After New York, he advised the Tokyo Police Force.[4]

  1. ^ Valentine, Lewis J.; La Guardia, Fiorello H. (1947). Night Stick: The Autobiography of Lewis J. Valentine, Former Police Commissioner of New York. Dial Press.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Gangbuster". Time magazine. September 17, 1945. Archived from the original on June 9, 2011. Retrieved 2010-10-05.
  4. ^ "Night Stick | Bookshare".