(a) Nothing in any provision listed in Section 16580 prohibits any police officer, special police officer, peace officer, or law enforcement officer from carrying any wooden club or baton.

(b) Nothing in any provision listed in Section 16580 prohibits a licensed private patrol operator, a qualified manager of a licensed private patrol operator, or a registered security guard, regularly employed and compensated by a person engaged in any lawful business, while actually employed and engaged in protecting and preserving property or life within the scope of employment, from carrying a baton if they comply with the requirements of Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 7580) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code relating to the carrying and use of the baton.

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(c) Any person who has received a permit or certificate that indicates satisfactory completion of a club or baton training course approved by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training prior to January 1, 1983, shall not be required to obtain a baton permit pursuant to Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 7580) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code.

(d) Any person employed as a county sheriff’s or police security officer, as defined in Section 831.4, shall not be required to obtain a baton permit pursuant to Chapter 11.5 (commencing with Section 7580) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code, if the person completes a course approved by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training in the carrying and use of the baton, within 90 days of employment.

(e) Nothing in any provision listed in Section 16580 prohibits an animal control officer, as described in Section 830.9, a humane officer, as described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (h) of § 14502 of the Corporations Code, or an illegal dumping enforcement officer, as described in Section 830.7, from carrying any wooden club or baton if the animal control officer, humane officer, or illegal dumping enforcement officer has satisfactorily completed the course of instruction certified by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training in the carrying and use of the club or baton. The training institution certified by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training to present this course, whether public or private, is authorized to charge a fee covering the cost of the training.

(f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2024.

(Repealed (in Sec. 58) and added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 287, Sec. 59. (AB 2515) Effective January 1, 2023. Operative January 1, 2024, by its own provisions.)