High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A truncheon or baton (also called a cosh, billystick, billy club, nightstick, sap, blackjack, stick) is essentially a club of less than arm`s length made of wood, plastic, or metal. They are carried for forced compliance and self-defense purposes by law-enforcement officers, correctional staff, security-industry employees and (less often) military personnel. Other uses for truncheons and batons include crowd control or the dispersal of belligerent or non-compliant targets.