Fit-Related Requirement To Receive Bulletproof Vest Partnership Funds Takes Effect

• NCJ Number: 250922
• Author(s): Becky Lewis
• Date Published: May 2017
• Length: 5 pages
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This article discusses the implications of a recent amendment to the legislation reauthorizing the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) program, which requires that all agencies applying for BVP funding offer their officers the opportunity to receive vests that “are uniquely fitted” to the wearer.

Abstract

This amendment. which went into effect at the beginning of 2017, requires that each officer who will wear a funded vest must be individually measured for a precise fit prior to ordering the vest. This is intended to ensure that a funded vest provides a unique fit, so that the vest will protect the areas of the particular officer’s chest and back the vest is intended to cover. JUSTNET, the website of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, describes how to take an individual’s measurements for vests worn in normal duty and those worn for special tactical duty. The measurements take into account differing physical features of male and female officers that will have implications for the fit of a vest. The intent of the measurements is that the fit of the vest will protect the torso and vital organs while allowing the wearer the full range of motion required for an officer’s duties. An annotated listing is provided of other resources that can assist agencies and officers in determining whether vests fit the unique measurements of the wearer.