I have little doubt correct spelling is Kosh not Cosh. However I still spell it with a "c" so I can use "Close" and not have to spell it "Klose".
My idea of a blackjack/sap is a leather item filled with lead shot that has a flat face an inch or two across and an edge (about half an inch thick) and it's shaped like a lollypop with a wide flat stick. These have been prohibited articles in New South Wales, Australia for decades. I am 45 and I can;t recall when they were legal. Of course we all had one or something similar when I was an MP back in the early 80's. We also had a mattock handle in every Datsun 200B patrol car. (Could those babies burn rubber! no, I'm dreaming again)
We did train with the PR24 and the KB28 and learnt the Charles Lamb Method and other things courtesy of some cross training with the NSW Police Tactical Response Group and the NSW Corrective Services Emergency Reaction Unit. We taught them some shooting skills we had picked up around the traps.
The C.O.S.H. Method I have put together is a simple system that includes some restraint and compliance moves but it isn;t designed for LEO use or for long term study. It is part of a Schedule or RIPs (Rapid Instructional Programs) that start with StreetFMA. We teach the core FMA movement as used in Redonda Siniwalli and then work from there, adding more knife defence skills via StreetSteel RIP and then more stick skills with StreetStik (A walking stick method, the Fairbairn Stick Method and COSH) and then finish with StreetSmart, the fight psych and fear control module and StreetLegal, or improvised weapons you can carry and how to use them, particularly the rolled up newspaper.
Simple, proven, effective and not rocket science but with a logical progression for students or experienced martial artists looking for more.
I think the lawsuit risk can be lessened considerably with better training and the shorter stick. A longer 24-31inch stick tends to be whipped around and swiped and builds up some oomph, whereas a short 12 inch truncheon needs some direction and intent to to its job. You tend to focus more when fighting with a truncheon than a nightstick.
Too many lawsuits came about because the cop swung at the head. Even in 1982 we were taught to aim below the shoulder with the KB28 straight baton and PR24 side handle baton for this reason.
I do agree that if you are caught with a 12 inch stick on you, particularly one that is weighted at the distel end to add heft and is clearly a weapon and carried for self defence then you could be in a lot of trouble. Different trouble to being caught out by a bad guy or three without one, but trouble all the same. That is up to the individual to decide I guess.
I like the longer baton and I like the ASP, they all have their place. I also think the truncheon has its place and is ovedue a comeback. Cheers, Redcap
(Before anyone accuses me of trying to flog anything, keep in mind there is nothing in my courses that Hock and others on this forum don't already cover, in more depth most likely, with their own product. I mention the RIP Schedule only to place things in context, not to advertise for students. My apologies if I have inadvertanlty breached any commercial post restrictions, not my intention.)