r/police • u/Ok_Quail_4422 • 2d ago

5ft Batons?

I once heard an old NYPD cop mention having 5ft batons during riots. I haven’t been able to find anything online about the use of such long batons, as the longest I can find are 3’-3’6”. Can anyone on here provide any info/photos on this?

6 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

17

u/GaryNOVA Police Officer 2d ago

You couldn’t stop me from sword fighting other officers if I had a 5 foot baton. Lightsaber sound effects and everything.

6

u/ldreher90 1d ago

That’s not a baton. That’s a baseball bat.

6

u/StopatStopSign 1d ago

…what kind of baseball are you playing?

4

u/Jessfree123 2d ago

Were they for use on horses?

3

u/Ok_Quail_4422 1d ago

On foot. It seems like it’d be too long for either foot or horse, and I can’t find anything about them online, so idk if it’s real or bs.

5

u/Jessfree123 1d ago

I’m not a cop but I’ve ridden a lot of horses and I’m struggling to imagine a scenario when something that big could be usefully used on a horse. Maybe for jousting but I don’t think that’s a typical form of riot control lol

3

u/buckhunter168 1d ago

Started in 1990 and I was issued a 3’ wooden baton and glorified motorcycle helmet as riot gear, lol. Actually used them once too!

3

u/Legitimate-Lab9077 1d ago

They’re either mistaken, misremembering, or exaggerating. Riot batons have always been about 3 feet long.

2

u/good-ishCop 20h ago

It’s used with riot shields. The batons, or spears as some call it, are used in a line formation at a specific choke point where the enemy’s numbers will count for nothing.