Striking weapons are designed to be used to strike or hit an individual to make them stop or change their behaviour. Specialist police batons are one the most common types of equipment carried by law enforcement officers, although ad hoc weapons such as sticks and poles are also sometimes used by security forces to inflict injuries. This page includes information on common types of striking weapons, relevant reports, and resources.
All types of striking weapons pose a risk to the person they are used against. Some can potentially cause such severe pain or suffering that their use can amount to torture. These abusive types include whips and billy clubs which may be weighted. Other types, such as batons, can be used in a human rights-compliant way by law enforcement. Unfortunately they are frequently used in a way that violates an individual’s human rights and causes injury. For example, batons are sometimes used to place a person in a choke hold that restricts their breathing, or to hit or otherwise injure an individual who is already restrained or otherwise under control, which may amount to torture or other ill-treatment.
Omega researches different kinds of striking weapons. We call for the trade and use of abusive striking weapons to be prohibited and for robust controls to be placed on the trade and use of regular batons and truncheons to ensure they are not used to violate human rights.
Examples of the misuse of striking weapons by law enforcement
