Developing Technology Standards

NIJ's equipment standards development and testing ensure that public safety equipment meet minimum performance standards. Performance standards ensure that commercially available public safety equipment meets minimum performance requirements.

Standards development follow six basic steps:

1. The needs of the criminal justice community are determined and development is initiated (see NIJ's Reserach, Development, Testing, and Evaluation process).
2. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Office of Law Enforcement Standards investigates existing recognized standards before creating a new standard.
3. Equipment is operationally and scientifically examined to determine attributes and to identify minimum performance criteria.
4. Test methods and evaluation criteria are developed to measure performance, validate, and provide a benchmark for the industry.
5. Industry, public safety, and laboratory representatives review and provide input to the standard.
6. NIJ promulgates the voluntary performance standards.

NOTE: Typically, there are no Federal or State requirements for public safety equipment to be tested and approved before sale.