Body-armor vendors/manufacturers can voluntarily submit a particular model to the U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Justice's (NIJ's) Compliance Testing Program (CTP). The CTP independently evaluates criminal justice professional equipment to determine whether a particular product complies with NIJ's minimum performance standard for that product. Those products that pass the compliance test are added to a compliant products list (CPL) published on www.Justnet.org. As of March 31, 2017, NIJ requires ballistic-resistant body-armor manufacturers who want their equipment to appear on the list to apply for and receive permission to use the NIJ Certification Mark. Manufacturers' use of the NIJ Mark will improve criminal justice practitioners' ability to identify body armor that has been submitted to and passed the CTP. Older models that were tested for compliance with a previous version of a standard may also still be available from some vendors; however, these armors are not listed on the CPL, which lists only products that comply with the most recent NIJ standard for that prouduct. The placement of the NIJ Mark on the armor indicates its compliance with the version of the NIJ ballistic-resistant body-armor standard current at the time of the testing. NIJ CTP's surveillance program periodically tests production samples to ensure that the manufacturer continues to produce the quality of armor approved by the CTP. This article recommends that even when a body-armor product has the NIJ Mark, the potential purchaser should cross-check the armor with the CPL to ensure it received the NIJ Mark under the current NIJ standard for body armor.
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