To a degree yes. But, due to the design of a baton it requires significantly more effort to do damage than an impact weapon such as a sap/blackjack. Additionally a knife can inflict sever damage in either a swinging motion or a straight in stabbing motion with VERY little "wind-up" necessary. And of course none of this applies to chemical based force options (although having an amount of distance between you and the badguy is HIGHLY recomended in this case as well).
I suspect that the ASP isnt going to be with the police for much longer, at least not as a useful tool. Typically it was used when a person was posing a threat but in a passive manner (ex. a man standing in place with a broken bottle in his hand who isnt responding to comands but isnt attacking either). It is good for disarming and enforcing pain complaince in such a situation. but, i think that the TASER is going to quickly replace it in this role since it is a much better choice for that tast. What police need is a decent weapon for use when they get jumped from behind or get stuck grapling with someone and cannot access their firearm (this why a lot of oltimers were REAL upset when they took away their saps).
) and i can't carry a gun legally yet. I'm not even sure if i can own one, let alone get a CCW. So yes a knife may be a deadly weapon, and an ASP baton may be a deadly weapon. But nothing throws up more flags then somebody carrying a gun (even if i DO live in KY).