[Captain Walker]

The stick wouldn't be used to strike someone in the head, but in the arms or legs.

If this guy had been struck in the leg once or twice on the way to the driver's side door of the vehicle, he would have fallen to the ground; they could have cuffed him there.

This was SOP for, well, a couple of centuries. As has been pointed out, the Rodney King affair basically led to the retirement of the baton.

They just never replaced it with something equally reliable, so instead of striking a guy and knocking him to the ground, the cop has to shoot him instead.

[Svartalfiar]

They just never replaced it with something equally reliable, so instead of striking a guy and knocking him to the ground, the cop has to shoot him instead.

Some cops are still assigned batons, but I think it's more as part of a riot gear package, not a regular issuance.

But, it's still not the one-hit guaranteed stun/knockout that the poster I was originally responding to was looking for.