Antique police batons?

Kel-Lite

Mag-lite, = illuminating, improvised darktime baton. (he said with a smirk)

A 6 D cell Mag lite will take out a knee with a single blow. I saw a LEO friend respond to a fight and he took that Mag lite and put the perp flat of his back hollaring #$%@ my knee.

While it may be possible that sailors have thicker skulls than the rest of humanity that shore patrol instruction was incorrect.

Meanwhile folks tend to forget that a night stick could be used for other than striking. One could use it in a variety of holds not unlike some akedo stick moves or philipine stick techneques. Even as once shown in the old fictional "Blue Knight" TV show where the title character was being out run by a younger fleeing felon and he tossed his stick at the felons feet to trip him.

Also a stick gives you something to play with during the long boring bits...thus the strap twirls and spins.

WHen I was last in the military, those pulling motor pool guard in my unit were issued a plywood board with instructions laminated on it, an angle head flashlight, a whistle, and a short night stick. WHen I would post guards I explained that anythime they felt the need to use the whistle they should also be bashing the flat of the plywood with the night stick to make more noise and let the bad guy know they could wael the tar out of them if they got close enough.

-kBob

Also on a like note this got me remembering the days of Flat Saps and Spring Saps and Come-a-longs.

I recently saw a book mark that reminded me of the old hard leather Flat Saps ( and there was a news story a year or so ago about a lady on a plane with such a book mark being charged having a weapon)and my wife has been considering purchacing a "twitch" for dealing with an impolite pony that is basically a chain come-a-long with a long wood handle rather than a T grip. Recently saw an add for one of the solid two claw type come-a-longs being sold as a historical curio.

WHen I was a kid a local cop had one of those 'Chinese finger cuffs" tubes that are typically made of rattan and sold as toys. His was made of flattened braided copper wire and would NOT pull apart.

For a bit I had a set of steel thumb cuffs a German Polezi gave me. As it was a single flat bit of steel with a jaw on each end, once in place it made an excellent come-a-long of sorts. The Polezi in that area used the hinged handcuff rather than chain types and those functioned as come-a-longs very well.

-kBob

Cool Stuff. Batons are fun to play with and with proper training and self control they still can and could work well.

Well, this marks yet another occasion that this forum inspired me to buy something cool. As a Marylander that grew up around Charm City, I couldn't help but want a piece of history I could hold in my hand.



This is made by www.eliteespantoons.com, a little side project of Chase Armington, sergeant with the Perryville PD.

This one is cocobolo and what is most striking in person is how large they are. It's almost like a ceremonial mace used at universities. 24" long, balance point 11" from the pommel, shaft is 1.4" in diameter and the "hilt" is almost 2", and it weighs 1.7 pounds.

Besides the large, elaborately turned handle, another distinctive feature is the hand strap. It's quite long and attaches below the guard instead of the pommel. It's a popular archetype of the late 19th and early 20th century policeman walking down the street twirling his baton vertically by the strap. The espantoon however is spun horizontally like a helicopter, and even has a metal pivot in the strap so this can be done continuously without it twisting. It's great fun and I can see why many in Baltimore City still carry them around on foot patrol.

still have my short plastic baton and my aluminum pr24

Notice the grooves on the business end that can serve as an emergency handle.

Click to expand...

Yup, but they're also used for two-handed thrusts, so you can maintain control and throw your weight behind it, a technique that is still taught today with ASP and Monadnock.

Very nice! I got to get a book holder from levers.

Few years ago a local Army/Navy surplus store had a box full of them. I picked up 4 of them for $1.50 a piece. Went back later and saw that the cler, had priced them incorrectly, but they still were still pretty cheap. Just a basic stick with a grooved grip and a lanyard hole like some of those pictued in this thread. Don't have a picture of one.

It would work with either end you grap ! That is smart thinking.

I do just that with my canes. You never know which end you might need to strike a blow with.

Speaking of espantoons - not exactly 'new' news, but...

There are photos at the link...

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/blog/2008/10/the_espantoon.html
OCTOBER 31, 2008
The Espantoon

There has been great response to my postings and those of the Baltimore Sun's Copy Desk Chief John E. McIntyre on old police terms, cliches and the differences in cop lingo between Baltimore and New York.

One reader reminded me of a New York term I had all but forgotten: "On the job."

Several readers have commented on the Espantoon -- defined in Webster's Third Edition: "In Baltimore, a policeman's stick" -- and one asked for a picture of one. Here are a couple by Sun photographer Amy Davis shot back in 2000 when then Police Commissioner Edward T. Norris reversed a ban and allowed officers to once again carry the sticks. Tradition returned.

Here is "Nightstick Joe" making an Espantoon in the basement of his Federal Hill rowhouse in 2000, and another of him outside with the stick.

What follows is the complete story published on Sept. 23, 2000 that I wrote on the return of the Espantoon. I've been warned against posting long takes from old stories, but so many want to know the history I think some of you might be interested:

By Peter Hermann

Nightstick Joe is back in business.

To the delight of tradition-minded Baltimore police officers, the city's new commissioner agreed yesterday to allow his troops to carry the once-banned espantoon, a wooden nightstick with an ornately tooled handle and a long leather strap for twirling.

Joseph Hlafka, who retired last year after three decades as an officer on the force and is best known by his nickname earned for turning out the sticks on his basement lathe, will once again see his handiwork being used by officers patrolling city streets.

Orders for the $30 sticks are coming in. A local police supply store has ordered three dozen to boost its stock. Commissioner Edward T. Norris bought five. Young officers who have never seen one are calling with questions.

"They want to know how to twirl it," Hlafka said.

Before Norris arrived from New York in January, he had never heard of an "espantoon." He knew the generic "baton," "nightstick" and "billy club," and was well acquainted with New York's technical "PR-24."

He challenged his command staff to prove the term belongs solely to Mobtown. And there, in Webster's Third Edition: "Espantoon, Baltimore, a policeman's club."

Norris signed the order yesterday, and the espantoon once again became a sanctioned, but optional, piece of police equipment.

"When I found out what they meant to the rank and file, I said, `Bring them back,'" said Norris, who is trying to boost morale. "It is a tremendous part of the history of this Police Department."

Hlafka is delighted. When the sticks were barred in 1994 by a commissioner who didn't like them, his production dropped from about 70 a month to 30, with most of them going to officers in departments across the country and collectors.

They are now made from blocks of Bubinga, a hardwood imported from South Africa that doesn't get brittle in cold weather. Hlafka whittles and sands the wood to remove visible blemishes on the sticks, which measure from 22 inches to 25 inches long.
///snip

That is a great story!

Numrich

Hello, I'm the new guy here. By some quirk of nature I have never found this site before today. I have not read every post here but read several then registered. I have been a Texas Peace Officer almost 40 years and have been collecting police "stuff" all those years. I have over 300 nightsticks, I recently sold a collection of 70 blackjacks, saps and such. I see most of the posts in this thread are several years old but I would be happy to discuss anything about sticks with anyone interested. I have several of the British Truncheons shown. I certainly don't know "everything" about sticks but I've learned a lot over the years. Part of my collection was used in "American Police Equipment" by Matthew Forte.

The local St. Louis Metro PD for many years issued a fairly short, heavy wooden nightstick, and many of the officers here used to twirl them as described.

An interesting feature of the St. Louis model was a steel ferrule on the grip end.
The purpose of this was so that pre-radio foot-beat coppers could whack the pavement with same to produce a loud, ringing distress call.

Only other thing I wish I still had in my possession, is my old call box key

I am near retirement with 40 yrs. police service. At the beginning of my career I was given a brass call box key by a family friend who was retiring and had carried it for 40 yrs. As a TX Deputy Sheriff I never used the key officially on a call box but I did carry the key on my key ring every day I ever worked on duty. About two years ago (2011) a small town in my county installed a new (and their only) traffic light. For whatever reason I tried the key on this modern traffic light control box and it fit. I'm not easily amazed but that was truly amazing, that a key 80+ yrs. old fit. I've since been curious of the history of the connection between the police call box and the traffic light control box. I guess it is somewhat obvious since a beat cop could access each of the boxes for official business but it is still a helluva coincidence I think.

Funny story about those old call boxes. My old lieutenant had been a young copper in St. Louis back before two-way radio and he broke in with his training officer using the call boxes.
The guy would never let him call in, he'd always get out of the car and call in himself.
My boss-to-be realized as well that the old guy also got progressively "lit" through the night.
Sure enough... He had a bottle stashed in each call box.

Ah, the good old days.