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ABCs of PPE: Conflicting Personal Protective Equipment Fundamentals--To Fit Well and Stop Bullets--Create Challenges

NCJ Number
224185
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 35 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2008 Pages: 22,24,28
Author(s)
Pamela Mills-Senn
Date Published
September 2008
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the challenges facing personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers to meet necessary requirements for law enforcement to safely confront the threat of future weapons and the development of new standards by the U.S. Department of Justice for PPE manufacturers to meet these requirements.
Abstract
The escalated threat of chemical and/or biological attacks and the larger weapons increasingly turning up on the streets have placed new demands on law enforcement and on personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers to take a new and fresh look at PPE requirements, such as body armor. One such demand is for PPE manufacturers to make a lighter-weight armor that offers better protection, greater flexibility (for movement), and is easier to conceal. In addition, PPE manufacturers need to design gear for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) incidents. However, in order for products to be manufactured, new and revised standards need to be written for law enforcement PPE by the U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice (NIJ).