by Jim Kouri, TCV Staff - The US Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs yesterday announced a new performance standard for body armor at the National Institute of Justice's annual conference in Arlington, Virginia, according to the National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP).

The new standard includes more rigorous testing and methods that expose body armor to temperature, humidity, and wear and tear, prior to testing the performance. Performance standards ensure that commercially available body armor, such as bullet resistant vests, provide a minimum level of protection.

NIJ has published standards for both ballistic and stab resistance of personal body armor for law enforcement and corrections officers.

"This important advancement in body armor standards is in direct response to changes in threats faced by law enforcement, advances in ballistic materials and technology, and the need to ensure that body armor performs well when subjected to environmental factors," said Associate Attorney General Kevin O'Connor.

"Body armor standards are needed to ensure that law enforcement and corrections officers' equipment provides a high level of safety and protection," he said.

The new standard is a major component in the Department's Body Armor Safety Initiative, established in response to concerns from the law enforcement community about the effectiveness of body armor then in use. As part of the initiative, NIJ developed the enhanced compliance testing program in partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Office of Law Enforcement Standards.

With the release of this new standard, law enforcement officers do not need to immediately replace the body armor they currently own. NIJ encourages officers to continue to wear body armor listed on NIJ's comprehensive list of models compliant with the NIJ standard. The listing is located on NIJ's Justice Technology Center Network Web site at
http://www.justnet.org/BatPro/.

NIJ recommends replacing armor when its useful service life has expired with armor that meets the requirements of the new standard

More information on the new body armor standard and the U.S. Department
of Justice's Body Armor Safety Initiative is available at:
http://www.ojp.gov/nij/topics/technology/body-armor/safety-initiative.htm.