TIPSTAFF OR TIPSTAVE

A symbol closely associated with the police and which has a tradition reaching well back into history is the tipstaff.

Originally referred to as a 'tipped staff' the tipstaff or stave was carried during and before the sixteenth century in England as a practical means of reinforcing the authority of a variety of officials having some aspect of law enforcement as their duty. Records show where parish constables would send their tipstaffs to the scene of trouble when they were unable to attend themselves. Such was the power of the tipstaff that upon its arrival, hostilities would often cease. The staff was typically stout and strong; the tip was fashioned of metal, in the shape of a club or spike and provided additional weight to the staff.

By the seventeenth century, an official bearing a tipstaff represented the King’s authority in the area of law enforcement. Its function gradually included the carrying of arrest warrants and other legal processes. For this purpose, they were constructed as hollow tubes and the tip could be screwed on or off to gain access to its contents. By 1700, parish constables routinely carried them about while performing their duties. They were widely identified in England as symbols of law enforcement by that time. Similar devices were carried by township constables in Upper Canada circa 1800.

A simpler, less conspicuous staff or truncheon became the solitary weapon of the London Metropolitan Police on its formation in 1829, in order to emphasize the civilian nature of that particular police force. Over the years, a more ornate tipstaff, with the added embellishment of a Royal Crown at its tip, was introduced into the rank insignias of such illustrious police forces as Scotland Yard, as well as some Canadian police forces. Its role is now symbolic and ceremonial.  It has thus been firmly entrenched as a traditional British and Canadian symbol of law enforcement authority.

The photos above reflect a tipstaff given as a gift to Chief Doscher by his wife (the Chief teaches law enforcement history).  The Chief’s tipstaff follows the tradition as a symbol of the solemn responsibility and authority borne by the duly appointed Chief of Police. It was presented to Chief  Doscher on December 27^th, 2004 by Mr. John Dallas Langenberger, the creative artist of the piece and twenty-six year veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

The base of the Chief's tipstaff bears the Great Seal of the United States of America, the Royal Coat of Arms for the British Monarch (representative of the roots of American Policing developing in the United Kingdom) and the Armorial Crest of the London Metropolitan Police (symbolic of the influence on U.S. policing by Sir. Robert Peel – the “Father of Modern Law Enforcement”  b: 2/5/1788 - d: 7/2/1850).  The head of the tipstaff bears the Great Seal of the State of California and the insignia of the Yuba City Chief of Police.  The ornate head is a gold-plated and hand-carved American Eagle. The tipstaff rests in a hand-carved case accented by the United States Colors.

This tipstaff is the only one known to be made for an American Law Enforcement Official and thus is the only one of its kind in the United States of America.

  
The bottom three tipstaffs pictured are from the collection of Mr. Pat Lynch. 
The photos are used by permission of Mr. Lynch as examples only and are copywrite protected. 

Early examples of Tipstaffs from Great Britain