The stick police carry is called a baton. That’s the formal term you’ll find in department policies, training manuals, and use-of-force rules. In everyday speech, people also call it a nightstick, a billy club, or a truncheon, and officers themselves often say “ASP” when they mean the collapsible kind. Most of these words point to the same basic tool; a few describe meaningfully different designs.
The Names You’ll Hear Most
Baton is the standard modern term in American law enforcement. When a police spokesperson talks about the tool on an officer’s belt, this is almost always the word they use.
Nightstick originally meant the longer, heavier baton officers carried on night patrol, when trouble was considered more likely. The word became closely tied to the New York City Police Department and eventually drifted into everyday English as a general synonym for any police baton.
Billy club (also “billy stick” or just “billy”) comes out of 19th-century American slang. “Billy” first appeared in print around 1848 as underworld slang for a burglar’s crowbar, and by 1856 it had shifted to mean a policeman’s club. The name may trace to the nickname for William, long applied to various tools, or possibly to the French bille, meaning a short, stout stick.
Truncheon is the older British word. English watchmen and parish constables carried truncheons as far back as the Middle Ages. When Robert Peel founded London’s Metropolitan Police in 1829, officers carried them as both a badge of authority and a means of self-defense. The term still appears in British law today.
ASP is a brand name that became a generic one. It stands for Armament Systems and Procedures, the company that popularized the modern expandable baton. The brand took over the category so completely that officers now say “ASP” for any collapsible baton, the way people say Xerox for a photocopy.
Older and Regional Names
Lathi is a long bamboo staff used by police across South Asia, especially in India. It started as a martial arts weapon in ancient India and was adopted by colonial police under British rule in the late 19th century. The lathi became so tied to colonial law enforcement that it remains a loaded cultural symbol in the region.
Cosh is a British term for a short, weighted bludgeon, historically a length of iron rod with a knob at one end or a piece of lead pipe. A cosh was concealable and relied on weight rather than length. The word now gets used loosely in British English for any small striking weapon.
Two other names often get thrown in with baton terminology, but the tools are different. A blackjack is a flat, weighted leather pouch on a flexible handle. A sap is similar but rounder. Both deliver concentrated impact to a small area, and both were phased out by most departments decades ago because of their injury potential. Several states ban them outright.
The Main Types of Baton
The name people reach for often depends on which design they picture. There are three in common police use.
Straight Baton
The straight baton is the oldest and simplest: a fixed-length stick, typically 24 to 36 inches, made from wood, rubber, plastic, or metal. No moving parts, no extra handles. Wooden straight batons were standard issue for most of the 20th century, and this is the shape most people have in mind when they say “nightstick” or “billy club.” Longer versions, sometimes called riot batons, are still issued for crowd-control situations where reach matters.
Expandable Baton
Expandable or collapsible batons telescope down to roughly 6 to 10 inches for belt carry and extend to full length when needed. Friction-lock models snap open with a sharp flick of the wrist; the tapered shafts wedge together to hold their shape, and closing them takes a firm strike against a hard surface like concrete. Button-lock models use an internal mechanism that lets the officer extend the baton quietly with fingertip pressure and collapse it by pressing a button. A steel expandable baton in the 21-inch size weighs about a pound. Lightweight alloy versions weigh roughly half that. This is the “ASP.”
Side-Handle Baton
The side-handle baton has a short perpendicular grip set about a third of the way down the main shaft. The best-known model, the Monadnock PR-24, reached American law enforcement in 1972 and reshaped how departments thought about baton design. Officers could brace the long end against their forearm to block incoming strikes, turning the baton into a defensive tool as much as an offensive one. The gap between the handle and the short arm could also control a wrist or arm. Side-handle batons take more training than the other two designs, and many departments have moved away from them for that reason.
Where the Baton Fits in Police Force Options
A baton is classified as a less-lethal weapon, sometimes called an intermediate weapon. The National Institute of Justice groups batons with chemical sprays like pepper spray and conducted energy devices like Tasers under “less-lethal methods” for gaining control of a combative person.1National Institute of Justice. The Use-of-Force Continuum That tier sits above empty-hand techniques like grabs and joint locks and below lethal force. Federal law enforcement training treats batons the same way, as intermediate weapons subject to an objective reasonableness test before use.2Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. Part V Intermediate Weapons – Batons
“Less-lethal” is not “non-lethal.” Batons can cause deep bruising, blood clots, and death.2Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. Part V Intermediate Weapons – Batons Many departments classify any baton strike to the head as deadly force, carrying the same legal weight as using a firearm.3Stanford Law School. Model Use of Force Policy – Chapter 8 Batons and Other Impact Weapons
Can Civilians Own One?
Whether you can legally own or carry a baton as a civilian depends entirely on the state. Most states allow civilians to possess batons. A handful ban them outright. Several others restrict concealed carry or require a permit, and the strictest states tend to group batons with other prohibited weapons like blackjacks and saps. Check your state’s weapons statutes before buying one, because possession alone can be a criminal offense in the wrong jurisdiction.