INTRODUCTION OF THE T-BATON IN THE ROYAL MALAYSIAN

POLICE

INTRODUCTION

The phrase training begins at home proved to be true for the Royal

Malaysian Police. The initial stage of joining the police force first

Involves recruitment and for a start every men and officers will report for

Basic training. This explains why training is a very important aspect of

the police career as proper and effective training will produced top class

men and officers which will in turn determines the effectiveness of their

responsibility and deployment. The RMP has undergone many changes in

their training modules with the implementation of new subjects and the

latest among them is the introduction of the new equipment, the T-

Baton.This chapter will elaborate on the introduction of the T-Baton (

pronounced tee-baa-ton as in French ) in the context of the Royal

Malaysian Police.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE POLICE FORCE

The RMP traced it’s illustrious history 200 years ago when the Charter of

Justice was promulgated in Penang on 25 March 1807. Starting from humble

beginnings until the days of the modern day policing at present the force

has undergone extensive changes and rapid developments. Since it’s inception

from the early days to the later day modern police force, training has always

been a part and parcel of the police force. It has been said that the motto “

The best form of welfare is training” is appropriate for a force as big and as

old as the RMP because without the proper training, we will not be able to

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execute our duties the way it should have been done. We have managed to

overcome the challenges that we faced thanks to the effective training

methodology that we embraces. We managed to overcome the difficulties

even if not spectacular but still managed to satisfy our clients, the general

public. Realising this, the force has made it a policy that training must be

conducted continuosly so as to equip each and every member of the force

with skills and knowledge to face the every changing scenario of the modern

era of the digital age and globalization. The RMP as a whole has undergone

various stages of transformation, changes and rebranding and we will look at

the initial stage of the introduction of the T-Baton to the RMP.

INTRODUCTION OF THE T-BATON

The use of force by police officers is permissible when used to effect an

arrest, to overcome resistance, to prevent escape, self defence or in defence

of others. The force used must be objectively reasonable based on the facts

and circumstances known to the office at the time the force is used. Officers

should take into consideration these conditions before effecting the usage of

force: the severerity of the crime involved, actions of the subject, whether

the subject posed an immediate threat to the officer or others, etc. Officers

decision are often made in circumstances that are dangerous, stressful and

ever changing and thus are not required to determine the least intrusive

measure of force that might resolve the situation. Officers are required to

select an objectively reasonable option given the totality of the

circumstances known to them at that time.

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Determining whether the force used is objectively reasonable requires a

careful balancing of factors such as probable injury to officers, subjects and

others as a result of the application of force. Target selection based on

medical evaluation of the vulnerability of the various parts of the human

body and potential injury to subjects may assist officers in reducing injuries

to subjects. In the usage and application of the T –Baton every user will be

train to use minimal force and be guided by the chart designated by colours

denoting the level of risk incurred by the application of physical force of the

baton. Today a majority of the enforcement agencies in the United States

and other countries are using the T-Baton as a standard issue equipment and

it has proven to be very reliable and effective in policing duties.

In December 2004, the Honourable Tan Sri Mohd Bakri b. Hj Omar the then

Inspector General of Police made a working visit to the Singapore Police

Academy. He was very impressed by the demonstration and usage of the T-

Baton which the Singapore national Police are currently using. Realising that

the RMP needs to modernize it’s training module and logistical supply of

equipment, he decided that the RMP should start the ball rolling by training

the men and officers in T Baton. Thus when the Cabinet approved the

proposals forwarded by Bukit Aman Police headquarters, the first batch of 3

officers and 10 rank and files headed by then Supt Hassanudin Hassan

departs to the Singapore Police Academy on the 14 February 2005 to begin

the 2 weeks basic user and instructor’s course in T-Baton.

The men and officers were specially selected from all the 5 basic training

centres throughout the country and all are black belt holders in karate.

Training was conducted by 5 instructors from the Singapore National Police

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Training Academy and Special Operations Command of the SNP. After the

training, each and everyone of the trainees were certified to train.

As in any form of training, there will be the role and function of the trainers

and this will in turn determine the effectiveness of the training programme.

In the context of the human resource development, the word “ instructor or

trainer’ does not gives the correct and proper definition of the role and

function of a trainer. The role of a trainer will always be perceived as a sport

trainer and nothing else. In actual fact the role and function of a trainer is

much more than just a trainer per say. The quality of the trainee will depend

on the effectiveness and quality of the trainer. Since the T-Baton is a

completely new subject and equipment much has to be done. The basic

training starts with the basic recruits in all the training centres. All training

programmes pertaining to T-Baton will be centralized and monitored by the

Kuala Lumpur Police Training Centre or PULAPOL KL. Similarly for the

T-Baton training has to be conducted every now and then to cope up with

the increasing number of recruits and in service personnel to be trained.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE T-BATON

The T-Baton in this topic refers to the baton used by the Singapore National

Police and the one which was selected by the RMP for it’s use. The baton is

manufactured in Monadnock, New Hampshire, USA. (Monadnock

pronounced as Mo-Na-Dock). The baton refer to in this topic is the

Monadnock Control Device 21 which is manufactured from composite

material and chromium, a light yet strong and durable. It consists of 6 parts

namely the solid shaft, the frame, spring, 2 O Rings, shock washer and a

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steel pin with nylon tip. The shaft is 21 inches long fully stretched and 14

inches when retracted. The baton looks like a letter T thus getting its name T

–Baton. The baton is supplemented by a short handle to stabilized handling.

The technical data of the baton also consists of 6 parts namely the short end

which is about 1 inch in length, short portion 5 inches in length, short handle

4.25 inches in length, knob 1.5 inches in diameter, long extended portion

16 inches in length and finally the long extended end which is .75 inch in

diameter.

Refer to chart:

When in use, the baton can be stretched to 21 inches and when not in use can

be retracted to 14 inches. The baton will be placed in it’s holster when not

in use. The baton usage is practical for an officer on patrol or in any form of

duties as it can be easily strapped to the body and requires minimum

maintenance. Usage of the baton is easy and it can be use for offensive or

defensive duties.

An officer will be trained to carry the baton in 3 different ways depending

on the task that is vertical carry, horizontal carry and two-handed carry. The

techniques consists of the basic stances, basic positions, patterns of

movement ( forward and rear shuffle, strong and support sidestep and

forward pivot) proper grip, methods of carrying ( vertical, horizontal and

two handed carry) basic position blocking techniques (high, low, middle,

strong side and support side block ) active defence skills, basic position

chops, long extended two handed blocking techniques, long extended jabs

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long extended power chops, basic position spin, draws , long extended arm

lock and retention techniques.

HANDLING THE BATON

Each and every personnel train to use the baton should also be train to

understand the human anatomy. The PR 21 Control Device baton will be

more versatile and effective law enforcement tool if the structural

weaknesses of the human body and anatomy are understood. Therefore the

manufacturer, after consulting numerous medical specialist and seeking legal

advice have come up with the Monadnock Baton Chart which shows and

indicates the 3 main parts of the body denoted by the colours red, yellow and

green. Baton blocking and restraints skills includes the whole body except

the head, spine and neck. Whenever lethal force is not required, avoid an

opponents head and neck area. The following chart shows the partial list of

the sensitive points of the body.

MONADNOCK BATON CHART.

ISSUANCE OF T-BATON AS AN STANDARD EQUIPMENT TO RMP

On the 25 March 2005 during the National Police Day celebrations in

PULAPOL Kuala Lumpur, for the first time the public witnessed a

demonstration by the 13 men and officers who attended the course in

Singapore. The demonstration was a tremendous success. In his speech, the

Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Dato’ Seri Abdullah b. Hj Ahmad

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Badawi praised the excellent show by the instructors and announced that the

Government has approved the purchase of 12,000 units of the batons and

will be issued to all the frontliners in the force step by step once they have

attended the basic user training.