PART III.  INSTRUMENTS OF FORCE deterrent effect for further violence “as it displays a clear demonstration of the intended police response to an actual or potential aggressor”.166 • It can be used to apply force with the aim of submitting, controlling or disarming a person for the purpose of arrest, for example by using it to lock a person’s arm. • It can be used to oblige a person to move to where the law enforcement official desires, for example through lock techniques. • It can also have other non-use of force related functions. Given the range of functions that a baton can have, training in baton use is an essential part of a law enforcement agency’s effort to develop capacity to differentiate the use of force depending on the law enforcement objective and the threat encountered. A baton is not expected to be lethal in the case of proper use. Risks and how to mitigate these The use of batons and similar types of equipment can cause brain injuries or death if the head or other sensitive areas of the body are targeted.167 The PSNI Manual indicates that “[a]ny use of batons has the clear potential to cause injury to a person and destroy or damage property. In every circumstance where a baton has been used by a police officer, each individual officer will be required to justify the legality, necessity and proportionality of their actions”.168 In Northern Ireland any use of a baton has to be reported and officers have to make their baton available for inspection. On occasions where a superior officer has given a direction to other police officers to draw their batons, the person giving the direction should also fill out a report, outlining the number of officers involved, estimated size of the crowd, etc. The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland conducted an evaluation of baton use in 2003, and made recommendations in particular to improve training as well as refresher training, and enhance consistent recording of the use of physical force by law enforcement personnel.169 Special precautions • Law enforcement officers should always use restraint and assess whether raising a baton causes the desired effect, without the need to hit the person. • Care should be taken not to hit someone on the head or at body parts with vital organs, including the kidney, or the groin area.170 Other risk areas are the joints, which can easily be damaged or even broken, shins, ankles, the back due to risk of spinal injury, the neck and the sternum. • Where a law enforcement official has hit someone repeatedly, or whilst on the ground, this may amount to excessive force and should be investigated as such. A situation where law enforcement is seeking to control a highly violent person is a dynamic, ever-changing encounter where the law enforcement official will have to adjust his or her response to the conduct encountered. See PSNI Manual of Policy Procedure and Guidance on Conflict Management, chapter 5: Batons. Amnesty International and Omega Research Foundation, The human rights impact of less lethal weapons and other law enforcement equipment, 2015, p. 16, available from: https://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/human_ rights_impact_less_lethal_weapons_doha_paper.pdf. 168  Ibid. 169  See Office of the Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, Research report 02/2003, March 2003: http://cain.ulst. ac.uk/issues/police/ombudsman/po03report2.pdf. 170  See, for example, United States Institute of Peace, Draft Model Police Powers Act, 2008. 166  167  81