Body Armor on Board

• NCJ Number: 211851
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 5 pages
• Grant Number(s): 96-MU-MU-K011
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description

Annotation

This paper discusses the role of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) in the selecting and testing of body armor and the purchasing of new and recycling of old body armor.

Abstract

The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC), located in Rockville, MD operates the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice's ballistic and stab resistant body armor testing and compliance program. This paper discusses the NLECTC's role in assisting the police department of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority in selecting body armor. The paper details the overall role of the NLECTC's oversight and management of NIJ's body armor testing program. To have its body armor tested, a manufacturer must contract with an NIJ-sponsored independent testing laboratory and send six armor samples to NLECTC about 2 weeks prior to the scheduled test date. No matter where the armor comes from, it goes through the same rigorous process, receives the same careful attention, and meets the same required standards. The paper concludes with how law enforcement agencies can receive help in purchasing ballistic-resistant armor, through the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Grant Act of 1998 and the attempt, through NLECTC to recycle old vests for research purposes.