The benefit: The baton was able to stay on the officer at all times without it banging on ones leg or getting left in the car. In the 1990's, expandable batons brought convenience to law enforcement. It was also too cumbersome to keep on the side of an officer at all times. Agencies gave officers annual training only to find that six months down the road, officer's were a "walking liability" because they couldn't remember the various methods on how to use the side handle baton properly, therefore officers resorted to gross motor skills and used it like a straight stick. The side-handle baton of the 70's & 80's required too much training to be effective. It was very effective, however, it was not convenient because it banged on an officers leg on patrol or in the middle of a foot pursuit, or got left on a car seat because of its bulkiness. In the 50's & 60's law enforcement used the straight wood baton. With this in mind, we must look at the evolution of batons. Before considering any other Less Lethal option for use within an agency, we must keep one thing in mind: The Baton was originally considered and used because of its ability to contain a suspect rapidly as an intermediate use of force option.
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