Police Batons

The piece by former LAPD Officer James R. Retana (Opinion, Oct. 6), about this brother’s death following an attack by fellow policemen, was poignant and remarkably restrained.

I was particularly struck by Retana’s continuing use of the word baton for the police instrument which had been used to split his brother’s skull. The merits or justification of the attack aside, there is concern about the use of the word baton , which is a euphemism adopted by police to soften its emotional effect, if not its physical effect. A baton is a stick, and we all know that orchestra conductors use that flimsy little stick to lead an orchestra. The word is taken from the French, and it means a stick. The English language has enough words to describe the device adequately. We have club , nightstick, truncheon , etc., all time-honored names for the device until baton was introduced more recently. Club , I think, is most descriptive, most adequate and least misleading.

HARRY M. BAUER, Sherman Oaks