This NIJ (National Institute of Justice) Fact Sheet provides information on NIJ's ongoing development efforts of a criminal justice duty holster standard.
This NIJ Fact Sheet, developed by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC), provides information on NIJ's ongoing development efforts for a criminal justice duty holster standard. NIJ is working to develop this standard in order to ensure that law enforcement officers have access to holsters that meet their specific operational requirements for performance and safety. Development of this standard was undertaken for several reasons: lack of existing standards for holster weapon-retention capability; the different weapon retention mechanisms currently used by manufacturers; and the fact that weapon security is a major concern of the law enforcement and corrections communities. This Fact Sheet highlights the major parts of the new standard: minimum requirements for form and fit, performance, testing, documentation, and labeling of duty holsters designed with the ability to securely carry, deploy, and re-secure a duty weapon; application of the standard to law enforcement duty holsters designed with manual and/or automatic retention devices; and addressing both continuous and instantaneous forces.