Customer Reviews

Supervision of Police Personnel

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

Supervision of Police personnel (6th) edition by Iannone/Iannone was included in the reference materials for recent promotional exams for both Sgt. and Lt.. Urge your civil service commission not to use this book. The authors take a paragraph to say what could be said in one sentence. Every paragraph contains run on sentences which makes for laborious reading at best. If the authors would heed their own advice concerning brevity this book would easily be half as many pages. There are other books that cover the same subject and most do it better.

THE BOOK ALTHOUGH SOMEWHAT INFORMATIVE IS LONG WINDED, BORING AND SEVERLY LACKING IN EXAMPLES. IT IS A HARD READ FOR EVEN THE MOST EDUCATED OF READER. IANNONE HAS MANAGED TO TAKE A 150 PAGE BOOK AND TRANSFORM IT INTO 360 LONG ARDUOUS PAGES.

I bought this book because our annual Sgt.'s exam would be taken from this text. While what Iannone covered was very important, his constant run on sentences made this text very difficult to read. Perhaps if Mr. Iannone would follow his own advice for instruction, avoiding oversimplification or overcomplication...then more people would retain the information contained in the book. Most of my fellow officers said that after reading a chapter, they had difficulty remembering what had been said. I had to go back to my old management books to get some of the basic ideas covered in Iannone's book.

I purchased Iannone's book as part of my preparation for the California State Sergeant's Exam and found it to directly answer several of the questions in the management section of the test. I highly recommend this as a resource for anyone seeking to promote in law enforcement.

Ugh! This book is awful. I also don't know anyone else who feels differently. It is required reading for Lt/Sgt. exams even though there are usually only a few questions related to the material. I think whoever writes the exams that way after requiring this book must be a sadist who hates cops. Or maybe is just concerned about insomnia from rotating shifts because this book can put you to sleep in a half a page. Who needs a doctor? Just read Iannone. I am sure there must be some very good factual or theoretical information in the book - otherwise it wouldn't be as well known as it is. (I sure hope so and its not simply that Iannone married the sister of some official who has sway over these things. Gotta love law enforcement.) Then again, there are also things in the book that are impractical at best. I can't tell you how to score high on the exam and it doesn't matter because a high score doesn't mean you will be a good supervisor and that is what is most important - will your cops follow you - happily? Read Iannone but start studying profiles in great leaders and look within your own department to those supervisors who hold the respect and confidence of the cops and just as you did while a rookie, cultivate these examples and merge your own style into them. Look to present leadership but don't fashion yourself as a clone - so much of the success of our work depends on our authenticity as people, try to be someone else and everyone will detect that immediately. #1 rule of success and safety - have an unwavering respect for yourself and unwavering belief in yourself. So, I think that Ianonne should grab a successful writer and let them form the concepts into sentences. Then we would have the best of him without the droning. But if they have to pay this person - what would the price go to then? Good luck on the test. Stay safe.

The author takes a 100 page book and turns it into a 350 page novel. Most of the information given is dry and oversimplified. The author constantly rehashes everything he can to make the book longer than it needs to be. As a long time supervisor, there was nothing at all I gained in knowledge that applies to the job. Urge your Chief or civil service board to NOT use this book on any supervision test.

A must for anyone studying for Sgt etc.Fortunately, most of the supervision questions you see on your test are from this book.Unfortunately, the publishers seem to know this and thats why they charge this outrageous price.

Any one who has to read this book for a class or promotional exam; please call the Cliffs Notes company and ask them to write a Cliffs notes booklet for this book. The authors should take their own advice found on pg 83 and avoid aimlessness in the book.

I have never written a review for Amazon before, and I only do so now because I was required to buy this book (at a whopping $88.00) and am already having fits reading it, though I'm only through the first three chapters. (Some might argue that three chapters is not a good enough sampling. To begin with, the first sixty pages could have been summed up in eight or ten-or less. And unless the writing style changes dramatically in Ch. 4 and after, all of the following comments apply.)

I must agree with other reviewers that this book is long-winded and seems to take forever to get to the point. With the money the Iannone brothers have made on this publication, they should hire some editors to redact this book from front to back, and then do another edit just for good measure before the next version comes out. To echo another reviewer's comments, how could a publisher print this thing, "as is."

In addition to the verbosity of the thing (great, long run-on sentences, like this one), it is annoyingly repetitive, rife with banality and so far, seems to be "listing to starboard," adrift, if you will, in the sea of its own self-importance and condescension.

In short, much of it is a "crock" and I can't understand why my department chose it over more recent management books that were infinitely better-or at least were written by people who know how to communicate. (Communication is vital for good police supervision, according to Iannone, but he fails miserably at it in this endeavor. I can just imagine roll calls at which Iannone was the shift commander: by the time he got through his report, it would be time to go home.)

As this book is the lynchpin in an upcoming test I'm taking, I'm expecting much dreariness of study over the next several months.

Bottom line is: If your department is considering using this book, talk them out of it.

While the book contained many viable concepts, the author(s) have trouble getting to the point. Frankly, I'm surprised it was ever published. Many examples are barrowed from dozens of books on corporate management, some of which are over 70 years old. They frequently devote 20 or more pages of verbs, adverbs and diatribe to summarize a single concept that could have been conveyed in one or two paragraphs. As an example, I encountered one sentence with over 80 words. No one talks like this. In real, usable language, this book could have been produced as a pamphlet, a guide.

This book is frequently listed as required reading for those seeking promotion within Law Enforcement. After two readings, I still find the text wholly boorish and difficult to follow.

Save your money. At $88.00 a copy, I feel like I need a cop..., to take a crime report for highway robbery.