Joseph Aloysius Warren (April 19, 1882 - August 12, 1929) - New York City Police Commissioner[1] (April 12, 1927 – December 18, 1928).
Warren was born April 19, 1882, in Jersey City, NJ,[2] the eldest son of Joseph Warren, a successful Jersey City real estate businessman born in Drogheda, Co. Meath, Ireland, and his wife Ellen (née Grady) Warren.[3]
A life-long friend and former law partner of Mayor Jimmy Walker, Warren became the second of four police commissioners appointed by Walker during a turbulent period in New York City history marred by the proliferation of prohibition-linked organized crime. Initially hailed by Mayor Walker as the ideal man for the job.[4] Warren's tenure was cut short after only 20 months, following a number of unsolved NYPD murder investigations, most notably including the highly publicized Arnold Rothstein murder investigation of November 1928.[5]
In accepting Warren's resignation in December 1928 the mayor praised Warren as an honest public servant.
Warren succumbed to mental illness only nine months later on August 13, 1929, in a Greenwich, CT sanitarium, an apparent victim to the rigors of his former office.