Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

Which is why a number of police forces, when maglites first came out and officers started buying them before the type of torch became part of equipement issue, banned the torches longer than 2 or 3 cells (you could get 4 or even 6 cell versions). At that time, many police forces still used truncheons, none of these modern battons, so the maglite was far more effective. It was the dual purpose use of the maglite, good lighting and the potential defensive use that made them so universally popular.