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Police station Stronger than a speeding bullet

Law enforcement agencies rely on National Institute of Justice standards for testing the performance of bullet-resistant helmets, shields, and vests.

These standards help protect police officers by ensuring that manufacturers use reliable methods to test the quality of their products.

With support from the National Institute of Justice, NIST operates a ballistics research test facility. Here, NIST staff develop the measurement methods and conduct the tests needed to continually improve these standards and keep up with changing materials and technologies.
Police station exhibit area with close-ups of clay with bullet impression, shot and unshot bullet slugs, and close-up of a portion of bulletproof vest shot with .357 magnum bullet.
NIST uses specially pre-pared clay to measure how much a protective vest deforms when shot with different weapons and bullets. Bullet-resistant vests are made of many layers of super-strong fibers. Compare this slug against an unshot bullet of the same caliber to see how the fibers flatten and mold a bullet. This vest was shot with a .357 Magnum bullet at the NIST ballistics facility. The bullet does not penetrate, but it deforms the vest enough to burst the outer nylon material.


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date created:1/15/01
last updated: Apr. 05, 2010
contact: inquiries@nist.gov

 

Police station area of NIST in your Community exhibit

Contents:

Protecting police, solving crimes

Matching up fingerprints

Cracking the DNA code

DNA analyses: Step by step

Catching a kidnapper

More police info on the NIST website