Customer Reviews

Supervising Police Personnel: The Fifteen Responsibilities (6th Edition)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book is entirly overwritten. It is very listy, for example, It tells you that there is 6 characteristics of a well written report. Then in the very next line he tells of the 6 different types of reports. Then he goes further to break down each type of report and explain what they are and why they are used. The ideas are notable. However the book's content is poorly written and is more for the overall manager not specific to police services. And yes, one needs to do the job before one can write about it.

This guy is out of his mind. A very frustrating read which makes U.S Army technical manuals seem fascinating. Mr. Whisenand is an obvious scholar, but I fear his "book of lists" does not translate all that well to actual human beings. In addition, I found the section on "community oriented policing" especially overblown. He fails to consider the prosecutorial implications of stating that "long and detailed reports are turnoffs to many people" (page 331, paragraph 1), they're turnoffs to defense attornies too!
Again, an extremely intelligent man and dilligent social scientist, but this book is horrible.

If you need this book to tell you that you should have ethics and values, then maybe you shouldn't be in law enforcement in the first place.

I don't know how many ways Mr. Whisenand has to say the same thing OVER AND OVER AGAIN. 319 pages? The same points could have been made in about 70. Maybe the publisher had a minimum page requirement for Mr. Whisenand. It's a bit hypocritical as Mr. Whisenand writes on page 89 that "A concise report expresses all the necessary information in as few words as possible..." He should practice what he preaches.

Which leads me to my next point. What is Mr. Whisenand's real world law enforcement experience anyway? In the book, it lists that he was an officer with the LAPD and a reserve deputy sheriff with the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Curiously, no where does it list how many years he did at each or the ranks he held. He also does not relate any of his own experiences as a PO, only that of others. Hmmmmm...

I only gave this a rating of one star because it won't let you put in zero stars.

This book is just plain bad. Writer has very hard time getting anything across clearly..way to wordy for the simple messages that he is trying to get across. Avoid if at all possible unless you like to sleep!! or if you have to read it for a test...even then not worth it!!

The only reason anyone would read this book is because it was listed as required reading for a promotional exam. Mr Whisenand is out of his mind and should limit his writing to something he has firsthand experience in. Read this book only if you are having insomnia.

While the basics of the book are sound, the author likes to hear himself speak. We used this book as a text book in class, and I stongly recommended that the instructor not use this book again. Don't buy it.

I was forced to read this book as part of a promotional process..... The book is very disjointed and should be titled "Fifteen Essays on Police Supervision." The entire book reads like a book written entirely to test from in an academic arena. From an instructional stand point the book is fantastic to test from each chapter exposes the reader to concepts and a multitude of lists that the instructor may pull questions from. The problem being that each chapter extols the virtues of the listed concept and why it is the most important factor in supervision. Unfortunately, two chapters later there is a new "Responsibility" that is the most important to police supervision, and a new reordered list. The author even makes the error of defining terms with the term used as a definition for itself?

In short avoid this book unless it is required reading, or you intend to test from it on a chapter by chapter basis.... Even then there are far better titles to expose students to.

I got this book to help with a promotional test and interview. Exactly what I ordered. Came quickly and allowed me time to study for the interview.

It amazes me that someone who has never spent a day in uniform could write about about police supervision. Law enforcement is a very unique career and so many people outside law enforcement feel like they know this life and are in some way part of it and qualified to write about it. I too was forced to read this book as part of a promotional process and it was horrible. I agree that the author has some valid points, but it doesn't work for law enforcement!! All of you cops out there know that we don't let outsiders completely into our police culture and life. The author needs to get some assistants who are or were law enforcement officers.

Poorly written and is still considered an important academic book to criminal justice classes. Very difficult to read without going to sleep you must skim through it to stay awake.