Short style Sussex Constabulary senior officer's or detective's truncheon c1960s/70s

Object/Artifact

Old Police Cells Museum Brighton

Name/Title

Short style Sussex Constabulary senior officer's or detective's truncheon c1960s/70s

Entry/Object ID

2352

Description

Short plain lightweight wooden truncheon 11 inches (28 cm) long. With multi turned handle and leather stitched wrist strap. Has "Hiatt" stamped on the strap.

Use

For use by a police officer as protection

Context

Not all short patterned truncheons were for use by female officers and many pre date the issuing of truncheons to them in the 1970s and 1980s. This particular truncheon is more slender than those issued to female officers in Sussex in the 1980s and is of a similar style to small hardwood truncheons produced from the early 20th century for use by detectives working in plain clothes and some more senior uniformed officers. Being of a shorter length than the standard size (15 inch) version, they were easier to carry and conceal in normal pockets. The earlier versions were made of exotic dark hardwoods and this example, being made of a lighter weight less dense wood probably dates to the 1960s/1970s. This truncheon came from a collection of items from an ex Sussex Police superintendent, who also served in both East Sussex Constabulary and Sussex Constabulary, and was probably issued to him as a more senior officer, or possibly during plain clothes duties. Consequently it probably dates from the 1960s or 1970s. It was made by the handcuff and police equipment manufacturer Hiatt.