Voluntary Ballistic-resistant Armor Compliance Testing Program

History

During the 1960s this country witnessed a dramatic rise in law enforcement officer fatalities. From 1966 to 1971, the number of officers killed each year in the line of duty more than doubled from 57 to 129. Concerned by this rapid increase in officer fatalities and recognizing that a majority of the homicides were inflicted with handguns, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) initiated a research program to investigate the development of lightweight body armor that police could wear on duty.

The investigation readily identified several new materials that could be woven into a lightweight fabric with excellent ballistics-resistant properties. Following initial laboratory research, the agency concluded that the objective of producing body armor suitable for full-time police use was achievable. In a parallel effort, the National Bureau of Standards (now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology) Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) developed a performance standard that defined ballistics-resistant requirements for police body armor. The National Bureau of Standards was a part of the NIJ Technology Assessment Program, which today is the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC).

Of all the equipment developed and evaluated in the 1970s by NIJ, one of the most significant was soft body armor. To date, soft body armor has been credited with saving the lives of over 3,000 law enforcement officers nationally.

NLECTC-National, in Rockville, Maryland, administers the voluntary body armor compliance testing program. Armor samples are submitted to NLECTC, where they are inspected to ensure they meet the labeling and workmanship requirements of the NIJ Standard for Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor. The vests are then tested at independent laboratories that have been certified by NIJ based on their technical competence and qualifications. NLECTC maintains tested samples in a secure facility for future comparison and analysis, in response to requests for assistance from law enforcement agencies in the field. Models that have been tested and found to comply with NIJ requirements are listed on JUSTNET.

The NIJ Standard for Police Body Armor has gained worldwide acceptance as the benchmark of any given body armor model. Today, more than 50 manufacturers produce body armor and participate in NIJ’s voluntary compliance-testing program.

On August 24, 2005, NIJ introduced the NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements for Bullet-Resistant Body Armor. These requirements modify and supplement NIJ's Standard-0101.04, Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor. They are promulgated on an interim basis to address recent NIJ research findings that indicate that certain body armor models previously found by NIJ to be compliant with earlier NIJ requirements for ballistic resistance of new body armor (including NIJ Standard-0101.04) may not adequately maintain ballistic performance during their service life. In keeping with their interim character, these requirements rely in significant part on specific certifications from manufacturers of body armor. To help ensure the accuracy of the certifications, NIJ intends to implement a plan to conduct random or other assessments of the certifications and the evidence that underlies them. The effective date for these interim requirements was September 26, 2005.

NIJ has implemented interim requirements to the body armor compliance testing process that create new requirements for all body armor manufacturers. NIJ is developing a revised ballistic-resistance standard as part of the Department of Justice's Body Armor Safety Initiative. For more information on the development of the next edition of the Standard, see Current and Future Research > Advancing Test Methods on the NIJ web site.

NIJ's body armor program has been instrumental in developing a garment that is not only wearable, but that has contributed significantly to the safety of the Nation's law enforcement officers. Every facet of the development phase involved protecting the life of the law officer on the street. This remains the program’s purpose.

• National Institute of Justice - Body Armor: Overview
• Body Armor Safety Initiative
• Body Armor Testing Program Database
• September 26, 2005 - NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements for Bullet-Resistant Body Armor
• August 24, 2005 - NIJ Body Armor Standard Advisory Notice #01-2005
• August 24, 2005 - Third Status Report to the Attorney General on Body Armor Safety Initiative Testing and Activities
• August 24, 2005 - Executive Summary - Third Status Report to the Attorney General on Body Armor Safety Initiative Testing and Activities
• December 27, 2004 - Supplement I: Status Report to the Attorney General on Body Armor Safety Initiative Testing and Activities
• March 11, 2004 - Status Report to the Attorney General on Body Armor Safety Initiative Testing and Activities
• Selection and Application Guide to Personal Body Armor, November 2001
• NIJ Standard 0101.04, Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor, Revision A, June 2001
• Addendum B to NIJ Standard-0101.04, May 2003

NLECTC
Kevin Merlo, Equipment Testing Technician
Tel: (301) 519-5119
kmerlo@nlectc.org

Alex Sundstrom, Testing Coordinator
Tel: (301) 519-5684
rsundstrom@nlectc.org

Last updated: May 13, 2008