Welcome to the new home of PoliceArmor.org
PoliceArmor.org is now part of CJTTEC.org
Criminal justice practitioners will find the same valuable and unbiased information on body armor selection, purchase, care, and maintenance under the For Law Enforcement section of NIJ’s Compliance Testing Program.
Learn More About Body Armor
The For Law Enforcement section on CJTTEC.org serves a single point of access for criminal justice practitioners to learn more about
- body armor overview and history
- recent police armor saves and reasons to wear body armor,
- body armor selection and fit, including female fit,
- body armor care and replacement, and
- financial assistance for body armor.
Testing Standards & Finding Compliant Products
Most Recent Police Armor Saves
Body armor saves lives. When law enforcement and corrections officers are confronted with gunfire or stab assaults on the job, they are more likely to survive when wearing properly fitting body armor. Here is a collection of survival stories reported in the news media.
October 15th, 2024 – Elbert County, Colorado
September 3rd, 2024 – Phoenix, Arizona
August 22nd, 2024 – Alton, Illinois
News & Features
NIJ Standards 0101.07 and 0123.00 have been published – click here to learn more.
Download this 2-page fact sheet from NIJ.gov about the new standards.
Watch this video from NIJ, where NIJ Director Dr. Nancy La Vigne interviews Dr. Mark Greene, NIJ Office Director for Standards and Technology, about the new body armor standards.
What do officers and agencies need to know right now about the new standards?: Most importantly, keep wearing the armor you have now. NIJ will continue to maintain its current list of armor that has already been certified to the previous standard for several years, so that manufacturers and agencies can transition to armor that meets the new standard. Given the large number of ballistic-resistant vests currently worn by law enforcement officers, the NIJ Compliance Testing Program anticipates maintaining the 0101.06 Compliant Products List through at least the end of calendar year 2027.
In early 2024, the NIJ Compliance Testing Program stopped accepting new armor models for testing under the old version of the standard, and those final models are completing the 0101.06 compliance testing process. The National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) is currently in the process of accrediting ballistics laboratories and, in the third quarter of 2024, the program will begin testing, evaluation, and certification of ballistic-resistant body armor to the updated standard. Law enforcement agencies should expect to see body armor certified by NIJ to the 0101.07 standard sometime in early 2025.
We encourage you use the information on this web site as a primer for your agency's selection, care and use of body armor.
NIJ is accepting orders for free copies (limit 10 per order/agency) of our body armor poster that provides critical information concerning the care of officer body armor, including where to check for NIJ compliance certification and essential pointers for the proper upkeep of body armor. Click here for the order form or to download a copy of the poster.
Addressing Real-World Stab and Slash Threats
The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is in the process of updating the current Stab-Resistant Body Armor Standard in an effort to revise it to enhance officer safety. Corrections officers are faced with significant danger on the job and this effort addresses threats and how a revised standard can mitigate them.
Click here to learn more about the proposed new standard, anticipated to be published in 2024.
About Us
PoliceArmor.org was developed as a joint effort between the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), who develops minimum performance standards for ballistic- and stab-resistant body armor and oversees a voluntary compliance testing program for these armors, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), who administers the Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP) Grant Program, which provides funds to state and local criminal justice agencies to purchase this critical life-saving equipment. This site is a service of the NIJ Compliance Testing Program (NIJ CTP), operated by a grantee (RTI International) as part of the Criminal Justice Technology Testing and Evaluation Center (CJTTEC).
The National Institute of Justice
NIJ, the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, develops standards and tests equipment against those standards. NIJ also helps to bring affordable new equipment to market by funding research and development of innovative technologies. As part of these efforts, NIJ administers a program to test commercially available armor for compliance with the NIJ standards to determine whether the vests will perform as expected.
Together, BJA, NIJ and the NIJ CTP urge all law enforcement officers to purchase and wear body armor that meets the current NIJ standard. Wear Your Vest every day and Stay Safe!