Baton charge

A baton charge during the 2001 EU summit protests in Sweden.

A baton charge is a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people, usually used by police or military during public order situations.

The tactic involves police officers charging at a crowd of people with batons and in some cases, riot shields. They run at the crowd hitting people with their batons, and in some situations use riot shields to push them away. Baton charging is designed to cause pain or fear of pain, in the hope that they would be compelled to move away from the scene, dispersing the crowd.

South Asia

In India and Pakistan, a baton would often be referred to as a lathi. Some Indian police forces use lathis around 5 ft long, but in other places lathis are shorter. The term lathi charge is used on the Indian media more commonly than "baton charge".[1] The tactic is controversial among human rights campaigners due to the violence involved.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Police lathi charge protesters Times of India-Retrieved 29 July 2010


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