Fedster + 1,307 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Force spending £2 million on upgrade. Public order officers will use the same batons as frontline officers. Photo: Press Association All frontline Met Police officers are to get new batons as part of a £2 million upgrade which managers say will help increase personal safety. The force is to replace 19,000 gravity friction lock batons with positive lock batons which officers say is more reliable. The new batons are less likely to collapse while being used and are five inches longer than the current most commonly used weapon. A case for funding prepared by senior officers cites terror attacks and the increase in knife crime as factors suggesting they are needed, though it stresses “we will never knowingly deploy an unarmed officer to an incident that requires an armed response”. It adds: “In terms of tactics, particularly in regard to the nature of the threat, enabling all officers to have the longer positive lock baton, rather than the gravity friction lock baton, means that officers can maintain greater distance between them and the aggressor. “Greater distance means that the safety of the office is increased, as is the safety of the public.” The Met also says public order officers will no longer have to use a level 2 acrylic baton as the positive lock baton will be effective enough. Supt Roy Smith says in the papers: “We are rightly proud that the British police service remains predominantly unarmed, maintaining law and order through the consent of the public and through the skill and diplomacy of our officers. “However, use of force by the police is sometimes unavoidable. We ask police officers to confront situations of violence and aggression in order to protect the public, and it is our duty to them to ensure that they have the tools they need to protect themselves and others in an effective, proportionate way.” Some other forces already use the same weapons. Police Oracle asked the force when the new batons will be deployed to officers but had not received a reply before this article went live. View On Police Oracle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indiana Jones + 1,082 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Not sure I like the idea of not having access to an Arnold baton in a L2 situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growley + 2,436 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Not sure I like the idea of not having access to an Arnold baton in a L2 situation. Agreed. It's hard to beat a solid lump of plastic for reliability. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IrateShrike + 1,847 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 I'm not sure how to take this - one step closer towards proper protection against threats faced by frontline officers, or a flippant dig that an extra couple of inches of steel will suddenly make a big difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMoo 66 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 2 hours ago, Indiana Jones said: Not sure I like the idea of not having access to an Arnold baton in a L2 situation. I compared my locking baton against one of the PSU batons . Let's just say, it felt...inadequate by comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike88 + 257 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 I've never heard of a positive lock baton, I take it this is what they're on about? https://www.botach.com/monadnock-positive-lock-expandable-batons/ I don't see how this is better than an Arnold baton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyphen + 693 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Many forces have moved away from these sorts of batons to the cheap toy batons including my force. It is completely unacceptable and it one of the things that should never be compromised. I don’t agree though in relation to it somehow making a difference. I know we have to make the best of what we have but if we are going up against a knifeman with a friction lock baton then I think something has gone very wrong somewhere and we should not be in that position. I’ll not say more as it’ll start a while new debate! Definitely disagree with these batons being the norm for PSU duties. I sometimes think it would be better to go back to the old days of actually having a proper Arnold type baton on the belt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaker 817 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 2 minutes ago, Hyphen said: Many forces have moved away from these sorts of batons to the cheap toy batons including my force. It is completely unacceptable and it one of the things that should never be compromised. According to our OST Trainers we're getting ours replaced with something much better. I've heard either MX-series or some fancy self-extending as you pull them out of the holster types. The sooner the better as mine is 50/50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radman + 2,163 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 When I joined BTP we all got issued the 26" Hindi capped extendable batons and they were fantastic. The force then moved to these 24" cheaper batons that kept breaking very easily, if you had an old extended baton you could keep it though. I'm so glad I've kept mine and maintained It, so much better than the batons the new starters get and visibly beefier than what the county cops near me carry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbo11 + 7 Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 I take it this new baton is Monadnock autolock 26in ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inbtsiyp + 347 Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Anyone know the difference between Autolock and positive lock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ether + 1,395 Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 17 minutes ago, Inbtsiyp said: Anyone know the difference between Autolock and positive lock? Auto lock has a locking mechanism such as on Monadnock batons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountyCop + 178 Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 19 hours ago, robbo11 said: I take it this new baton is Monadnock autolock 26in ? I heard a rumour that they have actually splashed out on Camlock Batons...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ether + 1,395 Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 1 hour ago, CountyCop said: I heard a rumour that they have actually splashed out on Camlock Batons...... I heard a rumour that a coach load of nurses will be at the pub on Friday, guess we all have to live with disappointment. 😮 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MerseyLLB 8,426 Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 So the Met will move away from the National public order tactics... again... shocker. No doubt a good move for area officers but I think a bad move for L2/L1 officers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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