Standards Under Development
To obtain comments from interested parties, NIJ posts drafts of standards and guides and requests for information for technical information. View any drafts open for comment.
NIJ has a number of ongoing efforts to develop new standards and to update existing standards.
- Restraints Standard
- Duty Holster Retention Standard
- Handheld Metal Detector Standard
- Walk-Through Metal Detector Standard
- Offender Tracking Standard
- Vehicular Digital Multimedia Evidence Recording System Standard
- Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) Standard
- Guide for Body Armor Measurement and Fitting
NIJ Restraints Standard
This standard defines the minimum requirements for the design, performance, testing, documentation and labeling of personal
restraint devices designed to be used by criminal justice personnel to restrain subjects. This standard is a revision of the
NIJ Standard for Metallic Handcuffs, and the scope has been expanded to address metallic and nonmetallic wrist and ankle restraints.
NIJ Duty Holster Retention Standard
This standard establishes minimum requirements and test methods for duty holsters designed to provide law enforcement personnel
with the ability to securely carry, easily deploy and resecure their duty weapon. This is a new standard developed at the
request of law enforcement officers to address the gun-retention capability of duty holsters. The standard defines two classifications
of holsters based on the style of retention: manual or automatic.
NIJ Handheld Metal Detector Standard
This standard specifies the minimum performance requirements and testing methods for hand-held metal detectors used by law
enforcement, corrections and security for the detection of metallic weapons or contraband carried on a person and/or concealed
by a nonmetal object. The standard is being revised based on research performed by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, Law Enforcement Standards Office.
NIJ Walk-Through Metal Detector Standard
This standard specifies the minimum performance requirements and testing methods for active walk-through metal detectors used
by law enforcement, corrections and security for the detection of metallic weapons or contraband carried on a person and/or
concealed by a nonmetal object. The standard is being revised based on research performed by the National Institute of Standards
and Technology, Office of Law Enforcement Standards.
NIJ Offender Tracking Standard
This standard will define the minimum requirements and test methods for location and tracking technologies used by law enforcement
and corrections officers to monitor and communicate the whereabouts of offenders in all environments within the community.
NIJ Vehicular Digital Multimedia Evidence Recording System Standard (In-Car Video)
This standard defines the minimum requirements and test methods for vehicular digital multimedia evidence recording systems
used by law enforcement officers for recording events occurring in and around the vehicle. The standard is based on the International
Association of Chiefs of Police's Digital Video Systems Minimum Performance Specifications Document, which was published in 2008.
NIJ Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) Standard
The development of this standard is a collaborative effort between NIJ, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the
Technical Support Working Group, the National Bomb Squad Commanders Advisory Board, JCREW PMS-408 and Hazardous Devices School.
NIJ's role within the National ECM Program is to assist the FBI's Technical Requirements Working Group in developing the revised technical requirements document in such a way that it can be used as the basis for a standard. NIJ may subsequently establish a Special Technical Committee of practitioners, scientists, researchers and subject matter experts to develop the ECM standard if requested by participating agencies.
Guide for Body Armor Measurement and Fitting (ASTM International)
Proper fitting of body armor is necessary to obtain sufficient coverage of the torso and vital organs while allowing the range
of motion required for officer operations. Additionally, it is believed that many of the issues related to comfort can be
addressed by properly measuring the wearer and custom fitting the armor.
ASTM International, a globally recognized leader in the development of voluntary consensus standards, has begun work on the Guide for Body Armor Measurement and Fitting, ASTM WK35902.
This work is being done by ASTM E54.04, subcommittee on personal protective equipment, at the request of NIJ based on input from practitioners. NIJ staff on the subcommittee are coordinating work on the standard. Learn more from the ASTM website Exit Notice.
