The expandable baton is provided to most officers in the British police forces, the idea being that should violence suddenly escalate, the baton can be easily deployed but can be stowed neatly away so as not to affect movement due to its mounting point on the officer's clothing. It is also commonly used in the UK and many other countries as a means of gaining entry quickly to a vehicle that contains offenders. In such a situation the baton is deployed and, due to the solid end of the device, is used to strike the side windows or windscreen of the vehicle to either gain entry or to stop the driver seeing where they are going in circumstances where the officer has hit the screen while the vehicle is still in motion.