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Marvin P. Iannone

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Marvin D. Iannone was an Assistant Chief of Police of the Los Angeles Police Department and later the Chief of the Beverly Hills Police Department from 1985 to 2003.  While on the LAPD, he was in charge of the security at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. During his early career, he was one of the first police officers to arrive at the death scene of Marilyn Monroe on August 5, 1962 and he has consistently refused to discuss his observations.  Marvin D. Iannone is the author of Supervision of Police Personnel.

According to the book description of Supervision of Police Personnel, “This book offers complete coverage for leadership training of supervisors in law enforcement and allied fields. The relationships involved in individual and group management methods and the practical techniques for carrying out the various responsibilities of the supervisor are explored. Everyday problems faced by the police supervisor in interpersonal, operational, and administrative relationships with subordinates are also covered in detail. Chapter topics include the supervisor's role, and function in organization, administration, and management; leadership, supervision, and command presence; interpersonal communications; principles of interviewing; psychological aspects of supervision; employee dissatisfaction, grievances, and complaints; discipline principles, policies, and practices; tactical development of field forces; and conference leading. For the training of managerial and supervisory personnel in police departments and law enforcement agencies.”

One reader of Supervision of Police Personnel said, “For promotion exams in my area, this is THE book that the examiners use for the supervision questions.  As for management theory, many of his points make sense. I am in no position to dispute the theories at this point in my career.

His presentation, however, I CAN comment on, since I am an avid reader and I know what makes sense. He could take a lesson from his own chapter on Communication. He says that communication should be clear, concise, and to the point. I find his points unnecessarily wordy. I am able to make short notations in the margin which summarize entire paragraphs at a time. It makes me wonder if he is paid like Charles Dickens - by the word.

As for the editions, I got the latest (6th). I wanted a new, blank slate (that is blank margins to write in) because I like to study that way.  However, according to some people, the 5th edition seems just as good since the changes are not major (some vocabulary words are changed and some sentences are made decidedly more wordy). But there are a handful of new points under the old headings that the examiners may or may not actually use. Even these new points are probably easy to deduce if you read the 5th edition and are reasonably intelligent when it comes time to choose one answer out of 4 choices.”

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