¡Participa en Wikivacaciones 2015! Gana premios saliendo de vacaciones por Colombia y ayudando al conocimiento libre. Baton (law enforcement) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search "Nightstick" redirects here. For the sludge metal band, see Nightstick (band). For the Transformers character, see Nightstick (Transformers). "Billy Club" redirects here. For the 2013 film, see Billy Club (film). For other uses, see Baton. Baton A baton or truncheon (also called a cosh, billystick, billy club, nightstick, sap, blackjack, stick) is essentially a club of less than arm's length made of wood, rubber, plastic or metal. They are carried for forced compliance and self-defense by law- enforcement officers, correctional staff, security-industry employees and (less often) military personnel. Other uses for truncheons and batons include crowd control or the dispersal of belligerent or non-compliant people. A truncheon or baton may be used to strike, jab, block, bludgeon and aid in the application of armlocks. The usual striking or bludgeoning action is not produced by a simple and direct hit, as with an ordinary blunt object, but rather by bringing the arm down sharply while allowing the truncheon to pivot nearly freely forward and downward, so moving its tip much faster than its handle – effectively a slingshot action, only without releasing. Sometimes, they also are employed as weapons by criminals and other law-breakers because of their easy concealment. As a consequence, they are illegal for non-authorized civilian use in many jurisdictions around the world. They have a common role to play, too, in the rescuing of trapped individuals—for instance, people caught in blazing cars or buildings—by smashing windows or even doors. Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Target areas 3 Comparison with other weapons 4 Designs o 4.1 Straightstick o 4.2 Sap o 4.3 Blackjack o 4.4 Side-handle baton o 4.5 Expandable baton . 4.5.1 Advantages . 4.5.2 Disadvantages o 4.6 Stun baton o 4.7 Improvised impact weapons . 4.7.1 Flashlights 5 Legality 6 See also 7 References 8 External links History[edit] 19th-century police truncheons in the Edinburgh Police Centre Museum A modern wooden baton In the Victorian era, police in London carried truncheons about one-foot long called billy clubs. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, this name is first recorded in 1848 as slang for a burglars' crowbar. The meaning "policeman's club" is first recorded 1856. The truncheon acted as the policeman's 'Warrant Card' as the Royal Crest attached to it indicated the policeman's authority. This was always removed when the equipment left official service (often with the person who used it). Earlier on the word was used in vulgar Latin (bastο – a stick helping walking,[1] from basta – hold). The Victorian original has since developed into the several varieties available today. The typical truncheon is a straight stick made from wood or a synthetic material, approximately 1.25 inches (32 mm) in diameter and 18–36 inches (460–910 mm) long, with a fluted handle to aid in gripping. Truncheons are often ornamented with their organizations' coats of arms. Longer truncheons are called "riot batons" because of their use in riot control. Truncheons probably developed as a marriage between the club or military mace and the staff of office/sceptre[citation needed]. Straight batons of rubber have a softer impact. Some of the kinetic energy bends and compresses the rubber and bounces off when the object is struck. The Russian police standard-issue baton is rubber, except in places such as Siberia, cold enough that the rubber can become brittle and break if struck. The traffic baton is red to make it more visible as a signaling aid in directing traffic. In Russia traffic batons are striped in black and white for the same reason. Until the mid-1990s, British police officers carried traditional wooden truncheons of a sort that had changed little from Victorian times. Since the late 1990s, the collapsible baton is issued except for public order duties, where a fixed, acrylic baton is used. Side handled batons were issued for a while, but fell out of favour. The NYPD used to use two kinds of batons depending on the time. The one for daytime was called a day-stick and was 11 inches in length. Another baton, that was used at night, was 26 inches long and called a night-stick, which is the origin of the word "nightstick". The night-stick was longer so it could provide extra protection which was thought to be necessary at night.[2] Target areas[edit] This section does not cite any references (sources). Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2014) Before the 1970s, the most common use of the police baton was to simply "brain" suspects (strike their heads with a full-force overhand motion) in order to stun them or knock them unconscious via cerebral concussion, similar to the pre-baton practice of buffaloing with the barrel of a revolver. However, this practice was both unreliable and periodically lethal: resistance to cerebral concussion varies widely between individuals, and the difference in force between that required to concuss a suspect into non-resistance and that which would fracture their skull tends to be narrow and unpredictable. As such, civil lawsuits and claims of police brutality resulted in revised training for officers. In modern police training, it is not permitted to hit the skull, sternum, spine, or groin unless such an attack is unavoidable and conducted in defense of life. The primary targets now are large nerve clusters, such as the common peroneal nerve in the mid-thigh and large, easily targetable muscle groups, such as the quadriceps or biceps. The approved method of swinging the baton has also changed, with the full-force "bludgeoning" strike being proscribed in non-life critical circumstances and replaced with a lighter sidearm "whipping" motion in which only the tip of the baton actually strikes the target. Taken together, these changes are intended to produce compliance via transitory neurapraxia (temporary muscle pain, spasm and paralysis due to nerve injury) instead of the bone fractures and cerebral concussion which characterized their earlier use. Comparison with other weapons[edit] Hand-held impact weapons have some advantages over newer less lethal weapons. Batons are less expensive than Tasers to buy or to use, and carry none of the risk of cross- contamination of OC aerosol canisters (pepper spray) in confined areas. Tasers and OC canisters have limited ammunition, whereas batons use none. Like Tasers and OC, batons are referred to as "less-lethal" rather than "non-lethal". These items are not designed to be fatal, but they can be: allergic reaction to pepper spray, blood clots from baton strikes, and heart stoppage after being shocked by a Taser. Designs[edit] Batons in common use by police around the world include many different designs, such as fixed-length straight batons, blackjacks, fixed-length side-handle batons, collapsible straight batons, and other more exotic variations. All types have their advantages and disadvantages. The design and popularity of specific types of baton have evolved over the years and are influenced by a variety of factors. These include inherent compromises in the dual (and competing) goals of control effectiveness and safety (for both officer and subject). Straightstick[edit] LAPD riot officers with straightsticks during a protest in Los Angeles. A straight, fixed-length baton (also commonly referred to as a "straightstick") is the oldest and simplest police baton design, known as far back as ancient Egypt.[3] It consists of little more than a long cylinder with a molded, turned or wrapped grip, usually with a slightly thicker or tapering shaft and rounded tip. They are often made of hardwood, but in modern times are available in other materials such as aluminium, acrylic, and dense plastics and rubber. They range in size from short clubs less than a foot in length to long 36-inch (91 cm) "riot batons" commonly used in civil disturbances or by officers mounted on horseback. Straightsticks tend to be heavier and have more weight concentrated in the striking end than other designs. This makes them less maneuverable, but theoretically would deliver more kinetic energy on impact. Most agencies have replaced the straightstick with other batons because of inconvenience to carry, and a desire for their officers to look less threatening to the community they serve. Despite having been replaced by side-handle and expandable batons in many (if not most) law enforcement agencies, straightsticks remain in use by many major departments in the US, such as the Baltimore, Denver, Sacramento, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Riverside Police Departments. They also are used by NYPD Auxiliary Police officers, as well as many Military Police forces around the world. Sap[edit] A sap is a flat-profiled, leather-covered lead rod, fitted with a spring handle.[4] It is also the name for a weapon of similar design (also called a slapper, slap jack or beavertail sap). A sap has a flat profile as opposed to a cylindrical profile of a blackjack, and spreads its impact out over a broader area, making it less likely to break bone. It was primarily used for head strikes, intended to stun an opponent or render them unconscious. Blackjack[edit] Two blackjacks and a hinged club on display at Bedford Museum A blackjack (American English), or cosh (British English), is a small, easily concealed club 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.[5] Materials other than lead and leather are sometimes used to construct these weapons, but the design principle (a soft covering over a dense weighted core) stays the same.