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Police and army batons

Batons, truncheons, and nightsticks

A baton or truncheon (nightstick or billy-club in American English) is essentially a stick of less than arms-length, usually made of wood, plastic, or metal, and carried by law enforcement, correctional, riot control, and security personnel for non-lethal self-defense or combat situations. A baton is used to strike, jab, block, and aid in the application of armlocks.

In the Victorian era, police in London carried clubs about one foot long called billy-clubs or truncheons. The impact weapon has developed into several varieties available today. The basic impact weapon is a straight baton, approximately one and a quarter inches in diameter, and from 18 to 36 inches long. It can be made from wood or a synthetic material. This is also called a nightstick. The 36" and longer batons are called "riot batons"; the handle end is sometimes fluted to aid gripping.

Sometimes wooden truncheons or batons are ornamented with organization's coats of arms and suchlike and used for symbolic presentation rather than as weapons.

Traffic baton is red to make it more visible when used as a signalling aid when directing traffic.

Until the mid-1990s British police officers carried traditional wooden truncheons of a sort which had changed little from the Victorian era, but since the early 1990s all forces have chosen to replace truncheons with more modern side-handle and telescopic batons for all but ceremonial duties.

Compare mace and staff of office for the marrying of defense and symbolism.

Making straight batons of rubber results in a softer initial impact due to some of the kinetic energy being used to bend and compress the rubber, causing it to bounce off the object that was struck. The Russian police standard issue baton is rubber, except in cold areas like Siberia where extreme winter cold makes the rubber go brittle.

Both types of batons have their advantages and disadvantages. Side-handle batons are more flexible, enabling many more kinds of strike and block, but they require more training to use than straight batons, and they are very bulky. For the advantages of expandable straight batons see below.

They are now seen mostly in cartoons.

Recent Design Innovations

Several design innovations are being tested in response to some of the perceived limitations of the currently popular expandable baton and side-handle baton. These drawbacks include inherent compromises due to the dual (and competing) goals of 1) control effectiveness and 2) safety for both officer and subject. Generally speaking, the more control a piece of equipment offers an officer, the less safe it is for the subject (eg; Gun). This has spurred a review of "arrest & control" tactics as well as a flurry of design innovations. Three of the more notable designs to come to light are 1) The Rapid Rotation Baton, 2) the Cuffing Baton, and 3) the TSB-45. Each of these offers a unique redesign of the basic baton with a value proposition based on a better combination of control and safety characteristics.

Rapid Rotation Baton

The batons designed by RRB Systems International appear to focus on handle characteristics that permit rapid and fluid grip changes as well as incorporating hand protection in the form of a unique "cross-guard".

Cuffing Baton

The cuffing baton by RMB Industries marries a unique baton design and a integrated handcuff. The baton itself is reminiscent of steering wheel "Club" - there is a long straight section and a "y-shaped" yolk at the other end. The yolk includes a triggered handcuff that can be remotely unlocked.

TSB-45

The Todd Group has introduced a "two handled expandible, rotating rear handle device". The incorporation of two handles is the defining characteristic - suggesting enhanced hand protection an the ability to disarm a subject safely.

Telescopic batons

Both ordinary batons and side-handle batons are available in collapsible variants.

An expandable baton or telescopic baton or telescope baton is an intermediate-force weapon often carried by law enforcement and security professionals, used to gain control over violent subjects. The expandable baton typically comprises a cylindrical shaft that contains telescoping metal pieces that lock into each other when expanded, and a solid metal tip at the end of the extended shaft. When swung, the extended baton can cause substantial damage because of the high kinetic energy imparted by its solid metal tip upon striking a surface. Most strikes are done on large muscle areas of the subject to avoid permanent injury. Expandable batons come in various sizes, including 16, 21, 26, and 31 inches when extended. The purpose of a collapsible baton is threefold:

The collapsible shaft makes it easier for the officer to carry it and to sit in a car seat wearing it, since when collapsed it is between six and ten inches long.
The baton can be psychologically intimidating to an aggressive suspect upon seeing and hearing the baton being extended.
Many police administrators think that it presents a more peaceful image to the general public than the regular non-collapsible baton.

As of the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 2000s, a popular type of telescopic straight baton or friction lock baton is made of steel tubing which collapse together for carrying, and which slides apart to expand into the extended configuration. This device is commonly referred to as a "teleton" or 'cobra stick'. A small metal knob on the end adds weight when the baton was used as a bludgeon.

Electric-shock batons

See stun baton for batons desinged to administer an electric shock.

Side-handle baton

One type of these is the Monadnock PR-24 Prosecutor, which was made infamous by the LAPD in the Rodney King beating. Side-handle batons come in rigid and expandable models. The rigid models are typically made of polycarbonate. The expandable models usually have an aluminum chassis which a polycarbonate section extends from. Almost all side-handle batons in use are made by Monadnock.

The side-handle baton a side handle at a right angle to the shaft, about six inches from the handle end. One make of this is the PR-24 "Prosecutor" side-handle baton (although the use of the original name of "Prosecutor" was discouraged) and is almost identical to the martial-arts tonfa. The PR-24 has greater defensive capabilities than a nightstick, as it can be held by:

One end, the corner between the shaft and the handle used to catch a long swung blunt or sharp weapon.
The side handle, the shaft along the hand and forearm to splint and shield the arm against an expected blow from a club.

Side-handle batons are derived from the tonfa, a Japanese martial arts weapon, and are used with a similar fighting technique.

Maglite and Other Flashlights

Currently, many policemen and others carry long metal-bodied flashlights which are used both for illumination and as a club (though police are specifically discouraged from doing so). The 5 D-cell Maglite is a popular example, and was also made infamous by another alleged police brutality incident, the Malice Green beating in Detroit.

The kel-light is a popular flashlight among police officers. It is rumoured that it was designed as an impact weapon first and a light-source second. The use of a metal-cased flashlight as a baton is discouraged by law enforcement officals.

Pickaxe handle

In the British Army the pickaxe handle is used as a standard guard baton when firearms are not carried, and is also used for measuring, so by Army rules must be exactly a yard long. Pickaxe handles are also used as "raft beaters" to help tighten the knots in the traditional pole-and-barrel rafts sometimes used during training. Very many times also pickaxe handles have been used as batons unofficially -- for instance, in the United States, where they were handed out by segregationist Lester Maddox to the white patrons of his Pickrick Restaurant (ostensibly to keep that establishment from being "integrated.")

Baseball bat

The baseball bat is often used unofficially as a weapon.

Blackjack

A blackjack (known in British English as a cosh) is a small, easily-concealed weapon consisting of a leather-wrapped lead weight attached to the end of a leather-wrapped coil-spring or rigid shaft, with a lanyard or strap on the end opposite the weight. Materials other than lead and leather are sometimes used to construct these weapons. It ranges from six to fourteen inches long. The blackjack can be made of braided leather with a strap or sewn into flat pieces of leather.

Blackjacks are popular due to their low profile and small size, and their potential to inflict enormous damage on human beings.

A blackjack is sometimes referred to as a sap, which is the name for a weapon of similar design (also called a slapper) which has a flat profile as opposed to a cylindrical one.

Another variation on the sap is a sandsock or sandclub, which as the name implies, is a weapon of flexible sheath construction filled with a heavy fragmented weight. The sandsock may be filled with sand, but more likely with lead shot. The covering may be a pouch of leather or heavy cloth, such as denim or canvas. The sandsock is almost universally used as an improvised weapon.

Blackjacks can be used to inflict devastating damage on bones and tissues, and are considered in many jurisdictions to be deadly weapons. Blackjacks are also illegal in many jurisdictions. Traditionally used by police officers, they have been replaced to a large extent by telescopic and side-handle batons.The blackjack was featured in the novel Tangerine, by Edward Bloor. In the novel, Arthur Bauer attacks Luis Cruz with the weapon.

Snapstick

This is a variation of the blackjack. It consists of a longer strap which lets it be used flail-type, and can be used as a club, and for trapping techniques as seen in the use of nunchaku and other flexible weapons. Other concealable batons include the kubotan and yawara.

Palm sap

This is a variation of the sap. It is a lead weight sewn into a leather or nylon cover, carried in the palm and held in place with a cord or elastic band. A glove is usually worn over the palm-sap. The palm-sap is used by slapping a suspect. A police officer related a story of using a palm-sap on a combative suspect and indicated the suspect "dropped like a sack of potatoes" when slapped on the side of the head.^{[citation needed]}

Sap gloves

These are a variation of the sap. They are gloves with lead shot or powder contained between layers of leather located across the knuckles. Police officers tend to refer to such items in euphemistic terms. Sap gloves have been referred to as "balanced driving gloves."

Shillelagh

Sally rod

A Sally rod is a long, thin wooden stick, as the name suggests generally made from willow (Latin Salix), used mostly in Ireland as a disciplinary implement, but also sometimes used like a club (without the fencing-like technique of stick fighting) in fights and brawls.

Knobkierie

A Knobkierie, occasionally spelled knopkierie or knobkerry, is a strong, short wooden club with a heavy rounded knob or head on one end, traditionally used by Southern African tribes (e.g. Zulu) as a weapon in warfare and the chase. The word Knobkerrie derives from the Dutch knop (knob or button), and the Bushman and Hottentot kerrie=kirri (stick).

It is employed at close quarters, or as a missile, and in time of peace serves as a walking-stick. The head, or knob, is often ornately carved with faces or shapes that have symbolic meaning. The knobkierie itself serves this function in the crest of the 2000 new federal coat of Arms of South Africa.

The name has been extended to similar weapons used by the natives of Australia, the Pacific islands and other places.