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11-01-2009 Military/Law Enforcement Newsletter |
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Military / Law Enforcement Newsletter - November '09
The baton is a lightning rod for controversy, and it has been ever since the Rodney King disaster all those years ago. The baton has been closely associated with the concept of police brutality in the minds of the public, and whenever someone is seen being struck with a baton, all sorts of red flags go up. Because of this, many officers are reluctant to use the baton for fear of being sued, and other non-police officers want to see the weapon banned for brutality.
The question, then, is whether or not the baton represents a useful tool for law enforcement, and the answer is ambiguous. Many officers tend to prefer OC spray and / or the TASER as a non-lethal alternative, both for effectiveness and for fear of repercussions from using the baton. In fact, many officers actually leave the baton in the car, so even if they did need it they wouldn’t have it on them.
Some would go on to argue that the baton is a reliable weapon, whereas the OC spray or TASER could always malfunction. Others would champion the baton’s ability to be used on several suspects, or multiple times within a short timeframe whereas the TASER has to be reloaded and the OC spray could run out. And visually they are usually more intimidating than TASERs or OC spray, particularly the expanding batons such as ASP's tactical batons.
But there are certainly valid criticisms of batons – they can be difficult to carry, they can make noise when moving, they can come loose when running, and of course the fact that whoever uses them will be subject to intense scrutiny from the public, the media, and judges and lawyers (if it gets to that point).
One of the big problems with police wielding batons is the lack of training that many officers exhibit when using them. To properly wield a baton, more training is necessary than, for example, the TASER or OC spray, and in academies, usually the actual training for using the weapons gets less time allotted than perhaps it deserves. And if the baton is not wielded properly, the consequences can be dire both to the victim physically, and to the officer in terms of consequences. |
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