National Institute of 

Standards and Technology

Technology Administration

U.S. Department of Commerce

NISTIR 6575

January 2001

Electronics and Electrical 

Engineering Laboratory

Offi ce of Law 

Enforcement 

Standards

Programs, Activities, and 

Accomplishments
The Electronics and Electrical

Engineering Laboratory

Through its technical laboratory research programs, the

Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory (EEEL)

supports the U.S. electronics industry, its suppliers, and its

customers by providing measurement technology needed to

maintain and improve their competitive position. EEEL also

provides support to the federal government as needed to

improve efficiency in technical operations and cooperates

with academia in the development and use of measurement

methods and scientific data.

EEEL consists of five programmatic divisions, two matrixmanaged offices, and a special unit concerned with magnetic

metrology:

! Electricity Division

! Semiconductor Electronics Division

! Radio-Frequency Technology Division

! Electromagnetic Technology Division

! Optoelectronics Division

! Office of Microelectronic Programs

! Office of Law Enforcement Standards

! Magnetics Group

This document describes the technical programs of the

Office of Law Enforcemnt Standards. Similar documents

describing the other Divisions and Offices are available.

Contact NIST/EEEL, 100 Bureau Drive, MS 8100,

Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8100, Telephone: (301) 975-2220,

On the Web: http://www.eeel.nist.gov

Cover Caption: The Office of Law Enforcement

Standards assists law enforcement and criminal justice

agencies though the development of equipment

performance standards, standard reference materials, and

scientific research. Our logo reflects the type of programs

that we conduct: DNA research, arson research, forensic

sciences, and law enforcement weapons and equipment.

Also shown on the cover is a model of the DNA double

helix, an electrophoresis system used in DNA reseach and

identification, and a law enforcement officer using a

conventional radar speed measuring device.
Electronics and Electrical

Engineering Laboratory

Office of Law

Enforcement

Standards

Programs, Activities, and

Accomplishments

NISTIR 6575

January 2001

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Norman Y. Mineta, Secretary

Technology Administration

Dr. Cheryl L. Shavers, Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Karen H. Brown, Acting Director

ME

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

DEPARTMENT OF COM

RCE
ii Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Any mention of commerical products is for information only; it does not imply

recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology nor

does it imply that the products mentioned are necessarily the best available for the purpose.
Office of Law Enforcement Standards iii

Contents

Welcome .........................................................................................................................iv

Mission ............................................................................................................................vi

Vision ..............................................................................................................................vi

Values .............................................................................................................................vi

Weapons and Protective Systems ...................................................................................... 1

Detection, Inspection, and Enforcement Technologies .......................................................13

Chemical Systems and Materials.......................................................................................20

Forensic Sciences ............................................................................................................25

Public Safety Communication Standards............................................................................34

Office of Law Enforcement Standards Organization (810.02)..............................................39
iv Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Welcome

The Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) helps law enforcement, corrections,

and criminal justice agencies ensure that the equipment they purchase and the technologies

they use are safe, dependable, and effective. The Office, with a staff of eight, is based in

Gaithersburg, Maryland, and is one of the two offices within the Electronics and Electrical

Engineering Laboratory at NIST.

OLES was established as a matrix management organization in 1971 and was based on

recommendations from the President's Commission on Crime. The Commission report,

entitled "Crime in a Free Society," recommended that a Federal agency be appointed to

assist criminal justice agencies by developing equipment standards and providing technical

support and assistance. The report indicated that the then National Bureau of Standards was

one such agency suitable for this task. As a result, the Departments of Commerce and

Justice signed a Memorandum of Understanding and the Office was established.

Since that date, OLES has fulfilled its mission by applying science and technology to the

needs of the criminal justice community, including law enforcement, corrections, and forensic

science as well as the fire service. The Office focuses on the development of performance

standards, which are promulgated as voluntary national standards by the National Institute of

Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the Department of Justice (DOJ). OLES also conducts

studies that result in the publication of technical reports and user guidelines.

NIJ is the primary sponsor of OLES projects. Projects are and have also been supported by

the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Federal Aviation

Administration.

OLES conducts research on protective clothing, communication systems, emergency

equipment, investigative aids, protective and enforcement equipment, security systems,

traffic enforcement systems, vehicles, weapons and ammunition, and analytical techniques

and standard reference materials used by the forensic science community. The composition

of OLES projects varies depending on the priorities of the criminal justice community at any

given time, and, as necessary, draws upon the resources of NIST's Measurement and

Standards Laboratories and outside agencies.

To help law enforcement, corrections, and criminal justice agencies acquire the high-quality

resources that they need to do their jobs, OLES:

• Develops methods for testing equipment performance;

• Develops methods for examining evidentiary materials;

• Develops standards for equipment and operating procedures;

• Develops users' guides;

• Develops standard reference materials; and

• Performs other scientific and engineering research as required by NIJ.
Office of Law Enforcement Standards v

The NIJ-sponsored activities are managed by OLES as part of an overall Law Enforcement

and Corrections Standards and Testing Program that includes the development of standards

and test protocols, the testing of equipment, and the publication of test results. For

example, the Public Safety Communications Standards Program resulted in the development

of standards for communication systems items, such as portable transceivers, base stations,

mobile digital equipment, and surveillance devices. The Weapons and Protective Systems

Program developed standards for revolvers and semi-automatic pistols, shotguns, body

armor, protective helmets, and handcuffs.

OLES has published, mostly through NIJ, more than 200 standards, guides, and technical

reports over its 28-year history. These publications have dealt with such topics as

emergency vehicle warning devices, police clothing and equipment, components of intrusion

alarm systems, physical security of door and window assemblies, metal and explosive vapor

detectors, arson accelerant detectors, and narcotic test kits. OLES also developed standard

reference materials for glass comparisons and DNA profiling and reference collections of

automobile paints and synthetic fibers for use by forensic laboratories.

The projects listed in this book are those that OLES has proposed for fiscal year 2001. The

actual portfolio is being negotiated as this book is being prepared. For additional information

about the Office of Law Enforcement Standards, please visit our web sites at

http://www.eeel.nist.gov/oles or http://www.nlectc.org.
vi Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Mission

The mission of OLES is to serve as the principal agent for standards development for the

criminal justice and public safety communities. OLES has been instrumental in the

development of numerous standards and the issuance of various technical reports that have

had significant impact on both of these communities. Through its programs, OLES helps

criminal justice and public safety agencies acquire, on a cost-effective basis, the high quality

resources they need to do their jobs. To accomplish this task, OLES:

• Develops methods for testing equipment performance;

• Develops methods for examining evidentiary materials;

• Develops standards for equipment and operating procedures;

• Develops users' guides;

• Develops standard reference materials; and

• Performs other scientific and engineering research as required by the criminal

justice and public safety communities.

Vision

The vision of OLES is to apply science and technology to the needs of the criminal justice

community, including law enforcement, corrections, forensic science, and the fire service.

While the primary focus is on the development of minimum performance standards, which

are promulgated by the sponsoring agency as voluntary national standards, OLES also

undertakes studies leading to new technology development and evaluations, new measuring

science protocols, new standard reference materials and standard reference collections for

application to the criminal justice system, and the issuance of technical reports and user

guidelines.

Values

OLES values its commitment to serve the public safety community in acquiring, on a costeffective basis, the high-quality resources they need to do their jobs to meet the needs of the

criminal justice system. The Office values its collaboration with the national law enforcement

technology centers, the forensic community, and all segments of the criminal justice

community. OLES strives to understand the needs of the community it serves and strives to

meet the needs of this community keeping in mind the limited funds at its disposal. OLES

advocates the needs of the public safety community to the scientific community and

encourages the adaptation of available technologies so that these needs can be met.
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 1

Weapons and

Protective

Systems

Project Goals

To manage programs, direct and conduct

research, develop test plans, oversee and monitor

test and evaluation efforts, and develop

performance standards, guidelines and reports to

advance the technologies of weapons, protective

equipment, and ammunition in support of the

goals and priorities of law enforcement,

corrections, and criminal justice agencies.

Technical Strategy

The Office of Law Enforcement Standards

conducts and monitors programs that are

concerned with establishing performance

standards for weapons and protective equipment

used by law enforcement and corrections

personnel. In some cases, existing standards are

revised to reflect the current state of technology

or to improve the test methodology. The

standards in this area that are being revised or

studied in FY2001 are as follows:

• Revision of NIJ Standard–0101.04, “Ballistic

Resistance of Personal Body Armor.”

• Revision of NIJ Standard–0115.00, "Stab

Resistance of Personal Body Armor."

• Revision of NIJ Standard–0108.01, “Ballistic

Resistance of Protective Materials.”

• Revision of NIJ Standard–0106.01, "Ballistic

Helmets."

• Revision of NIJ Standard–0307.01, “Metallic

Handcuffs.”

• Revision of NIJ Standard–0104.02, “Riot

Helmets and Face Shields.”

• Revision of NIJ Standard–0113.00, “12-

Gauge Shotguns for Police Use.”

In other cases, it is necessary to develop new NIJ

standards or test protocols. Programs in this area

for FY2001 are as follows:

• Development of a Bomb Suit Standard.

• Development of a Test Protocol for

Gunlocks.

• Development of a Holster Standard.

• Development of a Test Protocol for

Evaluation of “Smart Guns.”

• Development of an Armored Car Standard.

OLES is developing a state-of-the-art research

test facility specifically for addressing weapons,

ballistics, and protective equipment issues for the

law enforcement and corrections community.

OLES also provides continuing support to

standards and test protocols that are in use. The

following are examples where we will provide

support in FY2001:

• Support of NIJ Standard–0101.04, “Ballistic

Resistance of Personal Body Armor."

• Support of NIJ Standard–0115.00, “Stab

Resistance of Personal Body Armor.”

• Support of Protective Gloves Test Protocol.

OLES also provides technical consultation to law

enforcement and corrections personnel and the

general public in areas related to equipment

selection, ballistics, performance issues, training,

etc.

Support of NIJ Standard–0101.04,

“Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body

Armor"

The objective of this project is to provide

continuing support to the ballistic resistant body

armor compliance testing program. Law

enforcement and corrections agencies rely on the

NIJ Standard to ensure the quality and reliability

of their bullet resistant vests. As new

developments occur, such as new materials and

changing ballistic threats, the standard is updated

on a regular basis to respond to these changes.

This latest revision, NIJ Standard–0101.04, is an

improvement of the 1987 revision of NIJ

Standard–0101.03. Over the years numerous

administrative modifications and clarifications

had been issued for that standard. The latest

revision incorporates these improvements,

redefines ballistic threats, specifies more

consistent and rigorous test methodologies,

requires that armor be characterized in a ballistic

limit test, and defines a consistent report format.

The standard was published in September 2000.

NIST/OLES worked with NIJ and the National

Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology

Center (NLECTC) to identify and certify

commercial test laboratories to conduct body

armor compliance testing to NIJ Standard–

0101.04.

OLES will continue to work with NLECTC to

monitor the testing of ballistic resistant vests.

This is especially crucial during the first year of

testing to the “04 standard,” to determine if

anything needs further attention. While this

monitoring effort is underway, some of the

changes introduced to the “04 standard” revision

Technical Contacts:

Kirk Rice

Alim Fatah

Kathleen Higgins

Thomas Russell

Staff-Years:

4.6 professionals

1.0 technician

Funding Sources:

Other Government Agencies

(100%)

Project Champions:

• Armor & Protective Systems

Working Group of

government agencies

• EEEL, Electricity Division,

Electronic Instrumentation

and Metrology Group

• Home Office, Police

Scientific Development

Branch (PSDB), United

Kingdom

• Institute of Surgical

Research, Brooke Army

Medical Center, San

Antonio, TX

• National Law Enforcement

and Corrections Technology

Center, Rockville, MD

• National Technical Systems,

Fredericksburg, VA

• Office of Special

Technology, Technical

Support Working Group

(TSWG) of government

agencies, Ft. Washington,

MD

• The Tekne Group, Inc., Hot

Springs, AR

• Touchstone Research

Laboratory, Ltd.,

Triadelphia, WV

• University of Virginia,

Charlottesville, VA

• U.S. Army Aberdeen Test

Center (ATC), Aberdeen,

MD

• U.S. Army Soldier Systems

Command, Natick, MA

• U.S. Secret Service,

Washington, DC
2 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

will be studied to further validate them through

commercial testing. This might include

conducting independent testing at the

NIST/OLES test facility, consulting with others

in the field, or issuing clarifying instructions to

address the deficiency.

Of particular interest during this monitoring and

evaluation period are the following:

• Evaluate the failure rate of body armor as a

result of the somewhat more stringent

backface signature (BFS) requirement,

which now requires two measurements

rather than one.

• Study the ballistic limit data obtained using

the Modified Langlie Method.

• Evaluate alternative methods for collecting

and assessing ballistic limit data, such as the

Kneubuehl method.

• Evaluate the failure rate of new body armor

designs as a result of being tested against the

new threat rounds.

MILESTONES: During FY2001, OLES will

address comments and concerns regarding the

latest revision to NIJ Standard–0101.04. A

report, or several reports, describing any relevant

findings and conclusions on the issues studied

will be issued throughout the year. Furthermore,

any recommendations for clarifying the “04

standard,” or otherwise improving it, will be

made.

Revision of NIJ Standard–0101.04,

“Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body

Armor”

The objective of this project is to obtain

information from numerous studies to support a

future revision to NIJ Standard–0101.04,

“Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor.”

Experience with the last revision to the NIJ

ballistic resistant body armor suggested that this

standard needs to be maintained and updated

more frequently than in the past. To this end, NIJ

plans a program of continued study to make

further refinements to this standard.

There are several areas that could benefit from

more research or the application of newer

technologies. In particular, the methods used to

define reasonable threats and then how to best

represent those threats in the standard will be

examined. The ballistic impact with body armor

will be studied to determine if there are better

ways to assess the deformation of the armor.

Research related to the effects of ballistic blunt

trauma to the body and the possible influence this

might have on the minimum performance of body

armor will be monitored. The statistical

confidence of the current tests will be studied,

and alternative methods for conducting the tests

to produce higher reliability results will be

explored. The influence of environmental life

cycle on the ballistic performance of armor will

be studied. The effect of multiple, nearly

isochronic impacts with body armor will be

studied and a determination will be made as to

whether this test protocol should be adopted in

some future revision. The procedures for testing

female body armor will be studied, and any

special considerations that would influence the

design of female body armor will be examined

for possible inclusion in a future revision.

Methods to test trauma packs will be developed

for inclusion in the next revision of the body

armor standard. More information on each of

these subprojects follows.

As research continues in these areas, reports

describing relevant findings and conclusions will

be issued throughout the year. Improved

methods will be considered for adoption into the

“05” revision of the body armor standard; and as

these methods are validated, a draft standard will

be developed. The final product, that is a revised

standard, will probably not be ready until

FY2003, depending upon the schedule of

supporting studies.

Threat Determination

The threat levels defined in previous versions of

the NIJ ballistic resistant body armor standard

were based upon a review of firearms likely to be

encountered by law enforcement officers. For a

given caliber of firearm, there are many variables

that will influence ballistic performance.

Historically, bullet types and velocities were

defined in the standard in such a way that the

threat round represented a high performance

variant of a typical round that could be fired from

a typical firearm of that caliber. For most of the

threat levels in the standard, two types of rounds

were identified. Generally, one of these is a more

serious threat to the penetration requirement,

while the other one is a more serious threat to the

backface signature requirement. To produce

rounds having the specified performance levels, a

test laboratory normally purchases commercial

bullets meeting the requirements of the standard

and then hand loads cartridges to produce the

required ballistics.
Office of Law Enforcement Standar 3

In this subproject, other methods for defining the

threat levels will be explored. One method will

base the threat potential on basic bullet properties

and ballistic performance. As part of this effort,

a database compiling bullet energies and other

properties and known performance trends will be

established. Properties such as bullet mass,

velocity, materials, and construction details will

be considered. The data will be analyzed to

determine if some empirical method can be used

in a predictive manner to lump cartridges into

general categories based on the threat they pose

to body armor. As a logical extension of this

process, modifications or refinements to the

relative impact factor (RIF) concept will be

examined. The advantage of this approach is that

it will provide the same type of threat level

definition that is currently used, but because it is

more generalized, will also allow other rounds

not identified in the standard, but of interest to

some law enforcement agencies, to be

categorized into specific threat levels that are in

the standard. Another extension of this process

will be to evaluate the number of NIJ threat

levels in the standard to determine if any can be

eliminated or if any new ones need to be added.

Another area to be explored deals with using NIJ

designed and manufactured bullets and/or

cartridges rather than those obtained

commercially off-the-shelf. This effort is aimed

at eliminating a potential problem with the

standard. Ammunition manufacturers sometimes

change their bullet designs, and ballistic

performance can change as a result of this. A

possible solution is to define “standardized” test

bullets or cartridges whose properties are

carefully controlled so that the threat rounds are

more reproducible.

MILESTONES: A report describing relevant

findings and conclusions on the issues studied

will be issued by year end. Follow-on work to

implement standardized ammunition, if deemed

appropriate, is expected in FY2002.

Body Armor Impact Phenomena

This subproject is focused on determining if there

are better ways to assess the energy dissipating

characteristics of body armor. The current

method for assessing backface deformation with

a clay block is satisfactory under controlled

conditions, but it could be improved upon. Other

measurement techniques for assessing the impact

to the body armor will be explored. Studies into

replacement media for the clay are planned, as

well as possibly developing an electronic

measurement method for measuring the forces

and energies applied to the body armor.

MILESTONES: Throughout the year, concepts

for study will be developed and test fixtures will

be built. A report describing relevant findings will

be issued by year end. Follow-on work to assess

the feasibility of these methods through

evaluation testing is expected in FY2002.

Optoelectronic Method to Measure Body Armor

Deformation

This subproject will examine the feasibility of

using optoelectronic methods to measure the

time-history of projectile-induced deformation of

a backing material. If successful, this work will

be the basis for the development of an automated

system for measuring the energy and force

imparted to a backing material through body

armor. Such a method could lead to reduced test

costs, shorter test times, increased test accuracy,

and a greater understanding of impact

phenomena.

The proposed work is to determine whether there

are materials that can be used in the development

of an optoelectronic test system. Material

requirements are:

• Optically transparent over the wavelengths

of conventional and inexpensive light

sources.

• Withstand many projectile impacts without

affecting optical properties or mechanical

properties.

• Fast (within 10 s) elastic relaxation to initial

geometry to allow nearby or same-location

measurements.

• If penetrated, damage limited locally to

penetrated region.

To find a suitable material will require contacting

manufacturers and testing candidate materials.

Testing will consist of performing impact events

at the OLES test facility and then optical

transparency measurements using a suitable laser

in the Electricity Division labs. Mechanical

property changes will be noted by comparing

deformation under static conditions.

If a candidate material is found to be suitable for

the development of a measurement system,

follow-on work will be proposed to design,

construct, and test an automated measurement

system.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, candidate materials

will be identified, procured, and characterized. In

FY2002, the ballistic test system will be built and

initial ballistic deformation tests will be

ds
4 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

conducted. In FY2003, the results will be

assessed and a report will be written, with

recommendations on whether to adopt the

method.

Behind-Armor Effects Research

Several efforts are planned to study behind-armor

trauma effects. OLES participates as a member

of the Technical Support Working Group

(TSWG) of government agencies. Through the

TSWG, two contracts are planned to study the

validity of the 44 mm backface signature and to

compile a database of blunt trauma induced by

ballistic phenomena. Recent developments

during the contract proposal evaluation phase

have left a contract award in doubt. If the

contract does come to fruition, OLES will serve

as the government technical lead on the effort.

In addition to the TSWG approach, OLES plans

to collaborate with the International Association

of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and industrial partner,

DuPont, to examine the records they maintain in

the Survivor’s Club database to identify any data

that would prove valuable.

Other areas that will be examined for potential

relevance to this research involve other

government contracts with Battelle and Wayne

State University.

MILESTONES: A report describing relevant

findings will be issued by year end. Follow-on

work is expected in FY2002.

Statistical Basis of Testing

The number of ballistic impacts (shots) to

provide meaningful information on the failure of

ballistic armor has been examined several times

in the past. Most recently under the “04”

revision, a decision was made to retain 48 shots,

even though the “dry” tests were eliminated.

This was done to maintain the same degree of

statistical confidence in the results. Under this

new subproject, other methods for conducting the

test sequence will be explored, with the goal to

obtain meaningful results more quickly. The

method for ballistic limit testing will also be

examined to determine if there is a better way to

conduct this test. Ideally, some method will

combine the assessment of ballistic limit testing,

penetration evaluation, and backface deformation

(energy dissipation) assessment into a single test

series.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, NIST/OLES will

define the required levels of test reliability and

statistical confidence. Test methods that allow

for efficient test conduct will be developed, and

these will be evaluated to determine their

statistical characteristics. Other methods for

estimating the ballistic limit of body armor will be

explored. Data collected as part of the NIJ

Standard–0101.04 testing will be utilized for this

work. Pass/fail criteria for ballistic limit testing

will be developed. A report describing relevant

findings will be issued by year end. Follow-on

work is expected in FY2002.

Environmental Effects on Body Armor Ballistic

Resistance

Past studies on the ballistic performance of body

armor have been limited to either new armor or

armor that was worn routinely by law

enforcement officers. The problem with testing

previously worn armor is that the environmental

exposure history is uncertain. TSWG is planning

to issue a contract to study how the ballistic

resistance of body armor is influenced by aging,

as well as other environmental effects. OLES

will serve as the government technical lead on

this contract.

MILESTONES: Under this contractual effort,

appropriate life-cycle environment will be

determined. Selected types of armor will be

subjected to the environment and periodically

tested for possible degradation. NIST/OLES will

conduct some in-house studies to supplement the

TSWG effort. Progress reports describing the

TSWG effort will be forwarded as they are

received. This effort is expected to carry into

FY2002.

Multi-Hit Test

The law enforcement community has indicated

that the performance of body armor subjected to

multiple, nearly isochronic impacts is of concern

to them. To assess this, Bosik Consultants

Limited in Canada has developed a multi-hit gun

fixture. OLES will provide technical

consultation to the Canadian contract that will

eventually result in the delivery of a 3-barrel test

rig and test method.

MILESTONES: The test rig and test protocol

are expected in late calendar year 2001.

Female Body Armor

The current version of the body armor standard

specifies some special treatment for female body

armor. This subproject is aimed at a more

detailed study of female body armor to determine

if there are better ways to assess the performance

of female body armor. TSWG is planning to

issue a contract to address this area. OLES will

serve as the government technical lead on this

contract.
Office of Law Enforcement Standar 5

MILESTONES: NIST/OLES will monitor the

planned TSWG contract on “Female Body Armor

Studies,” and we will assist with defining the test

method. Progress reports describing the TSWG

effort will be forwarded as they are received. In

addition, NIST/OLES will evaluate the state of

technology and conduct in-house studies to

supplement the TSWG effort. Based on the

results of the TSWG contract and any related

studies, any special requirements, test

equipment, and test methodologies specific to

female armor will be developed. This effort is

expected to carry into FY2002.

Test Protocol for Body Armor Trauma Packs

Presently, supplemental trauma packs included

with armor are not tested with the armor during

compliance testing. Past efforts to study trauma

packs through TSWG contracts have not been

successful, so OLES plans to conduct in-house

testing. The purpose of this effort is to determine

a suitable method for testing and evaluating soft

body armor that includes trauma packs.

Significant suggestions resulting from this study

would be incorporated into a future revision of

the soft body armor standard.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, samples of various

trauma packs will be obtained and tested by

conventional methods. Additionally, we will

monitor work that will be sponsored by the

TSWG in the areas of backface deformation

research and blunt trauma literature survey. A

test method will be identified and validated

through testing, and incorporated into a future

revision of the standard. Reports or white papers

that recommend a position on key topics will be

drafted for use in the future revision of the

ballistic resistant body armor standard, but the

standard will not be revised for several years.

Support of NIJ Standard–0115.00,

“Stab Resistance of Personal Body

Armor”

The objective of this project is to provide

continuing support to the stab resistant body

armor compliance testing program. NIJ

Standard–0115.00 is the first true U.S. standard

addressing the stab resistance of personal body

armor, and it provides a consistent measure by

which stab resistant body armor performance can

be assessed. The stab threat from sharp and

edged weapons represents the primary threat to

corrections officers and a secondary threat to

police officers in the United States. Many

agencies are expected to take advantage of the

matching funds offered through the Bulletproof

Vest Partnership Act Program and to purchase

stab resistant body armor certified to this

standard.

This standard was published in September 2000.

NIST/OLES worked with NIJ and NLECTC to

identify and certify a commercial test laboratory

to conduct body armor compliance testing to the

“stab standard.” The implementation of the

formal compliance testing program is modeled

after the one used for ballistic resistant body

armor. OLES will work with NLECTC to

monitor the testing, which is especially crucial

during the inaugural year of testing to determine

if anything needs further attention.

MILESTONES: NIST/OLES will monitor testing

taking place under the compliance testing

program to identify any potential problem areas,

and work to resolve those. This might include

conducting independent testing at the NIST/OLES

test facility, consulting with others in the field, or

issuing clarifying instructions to address the

deficiency. NIST/OLES will also participate in the

process of identifying and certifying a second

commercial test laboratory that will conduct body

armor compliance testing to the standard.

Throughout the year, any relevant findings will

be documented and, if necessary, clarifications

will be made to the standard.

Revision of NIJ Standard–0115.00,

"Stab Resistance of Personal Body

Armor"

The objective of this project is to continue studies

that will provide information to support a future

OLES stab test apparatus used to support

development of NIJ body armor standard for

stab resistance.

ds
6 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

revision of NIJ Standard–0115.00, “Stab

Resistance of Personal Body Armor.”

The stab resistant body armor compliance testing

program began in October 2000. While the

baseline version of the standard was being

prepared, several areas were identified that would

benefit from further study. In particular, these

areas dealt with slash testing, tip sharpness

testing, and backing material specification.

NIST/OLES plans to study these areas and

provide guidance for future improvements to the

standard. To effectively do this, NIST/OLES

will continue collaborating with the Police

Scientific Development Branch (PSDB). An

annex to the existing bi-lateral agreement has

been developed jointly between the U.S. and

U.K. technical points of contact.

The slash threat was not directly addressed in NIJ

Standard–0115.00, although it is not believed to

be as severe as the stab threats. Future

improvements to this standard will incorporate a

slash test methodology.

The tip sharpness of the knife blades and spike

that are defined in the NIJ standard must meet

certain requirements. Not addressed in the

standard are any requirements for knife blade

edge sharpness. Future improvements to this

standard will probably incorporate an edge

sharpness requirement and test methodology.

The backing material specified in the NIJ

standard consists of multiple layers of

commercially available rubber and sponge foam

sheets. These materials typically have fairly

large variations in their physical properties due to

routine production variations. Future

improvements to this standard will probably

incorporate better definition of these materials or

specify new and improved materials.

The portion of the standard dealing with stabs

from spikes needs more attention. A very close

variant of the test methodology developed by

PSDB in their 1999 stab standard was adopted in

this NIJ standard. Not addressed by PSDB was

the threat due to a spike-style weapon. OLES

adopted a spike based on a design similar to the

California Ice Pick threat, while retaining the

standard test methods already specified in the NIJ

standard.

MILESTONES: NIST/OLES will champion

further collaboration with the U.K. through the

Technical Support Working Group, Personnel

Protection Subgroup (TSWG-PP). Issues to be

addressed through this collaboration are: further

research on spike threats, the development of an

edge sharpness test, further studies on backing

materials, and development and validation of a

slash test methodology. Throughout the year,

any relevant findings will be documented for

future incorporation into a new revision of the

standard.

Revision of NIJ Standard–0108.01,

“Ballistic Resistance of Protective

Materials”

The objective of this project is to establish

minimum performance requirements and

methods of test for ballistic resistant protective

materials. These materials are of many types,

and can be found in shields, ballistic resistant

plates, vehicle armor, and transparent bulletresistant materials.

The current revision of the standard, NIJ

Standard–0108.01 was released in September

1985. It added another ballistic threat level and

established threat level classifications that were

consistent with other NIJ standards for ballistic

protection.

This effort was identified in last year’s plan, but a

decision was made to postpone revising this

standard pending finalization of the latest

revision of the ballistic resistant body armor

standard, NIJ Standard–0101.04, so that

improvements to that standard could be carried

over into this one.

From the body armor standard work, a test

methodology that estimates the ballistic limit,

that is, the velocity at which a ballistic resistant

material is expected to fail 50 % of the time, has

been adopted. It is based on a modified Langlie

method of test. The ballistic threats were also

reviewed and updated. Further improvements

were made by specifying formal test procedures

and requiring a uniform reporting style.

MILESTONES: Throughout the year, a newly

revised draft of NIJ Standard–0108.01, that

incorporates improvements from the body armor

standard, will be developed. The draft standard

will also include special provisions for testing

transparent materials. The draft standard is

expected by the end of FY2001. Progress reports

will be provided quarterly. Work is expected to

continue in FY2002 when the test methods will

be validated through extensive experimental

testing. The draft standard will then be available

for comment and review. A final version is

expected to be ready for publication by late

FY2002.
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 7

Revision of NIJ Standard–0106.01,

"Ballistic Helmets"

The objective of this project is to revise NIJ

Standard–0106.01, “Ballistic Helmets.” This

standard establishes minimum performance

requirements and methods of test for ballistic

helmets. Law enforcement agencies rely on the

NIJ standard for “Ballistic Helmets” to ensure the

quality and reliability of their bullet resistant

helmets.

While this effort was identified in last year’s

plan, a decision was made to postpone revising

the standard pending two things: the release of

the latest revision of the ballistic resistant body

armor standard, NIJ Standard–0101.04, and the

conclusion of the Army contract with the

University of Virginia (UVA). The rationale for

this is that many of the improvements

incorporated in NIJ Standard–0101.04 can be

carried over into the new revision of NIJ

Standard–0106.01; and completion of the first

couple phases of the UVA contract in September

1999 and May 2000 suggest that the findings

from the entire UVA effort will be very helpful.

The original standard, NILECJ–STD–0106.00,

was issued in September 1975. In December of

1981, the next revision (NIJ Standard–0106.01),

brought the threat level definitions into

agreement with the body armor standard. There

are still several deficiencies in the current helmet

standard: 1) it does not include all of the latest

threat levels; 2) the impact measurement system

needs to be revised to make it easier to apply; 3)

there is some question about the amount of

impact reduction necessary for short duration

impacts, such as those produced when a handgun

bullet is stopped; and 4) the current standard only

tests for impact reduction at the maximum threat

level for which the helmet is rated. It is

conceivable that a lower threat level impact

would not be attenuated, and therefore, could

transmit dangerous impacts to the head.

In prior years, a helmet literature search revealed

studies whose results would establish a realistic

basis for assessing the protection performance of

ballistic helmets. Then in FY1999, an

Interagency Agreement between NIST/OLES and

the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) at

Natick, Massachusetts created a means to support

additional research through a 5-phase, 28-month

R&D contract to UVA. ARL/Natick manages the

contract. The Army and OLES jointly fund the

contract, with a majority of the funding coming

from the Army. The Army also administers the

contract. The primary goals of the contract are to

assess the limiting performance of helmets for the

prevention of head injury and to define risk-ofinjury criteria under ballistic impacts. A

secondary goal is to identify an experimental test

using anthropometric test devices (ATDs). This

correlation can subsequently be used to predict

the risk of human injury through the use of ATDs

alone. A kick-off meeting was held in February

1999 at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD to define

research plans for high-fidelity tests to study head

trauma effects as a result of ballistic loading of

helmets.

The Army is interested in ballistic helmet test

standards because they have a requirement to

provide lighter weight ballistic head protection to

their troops. As helmets grow lighter, through

the utilization of new and improved materials, the

shock loading to the head from ballistic impacts

may increase. Correlation of forces recorded on

an ATD with physical effects on individuals will

promote the development of improved, lighter

weight, energy absorbing, protective helmet

systems for both the military and the law

enforcement community. The ability to validate

the existing NIJ helmet standard or establish a

standard ballistic test method which can

discriminate marginal from acceptable ballistic

protective helmets is key to the successful

transfer of technology to the law enforcement

community.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, NIST/OLES will

continue to monitor and participate in a research

program underway at UVA through the Army

contract. The findings from that effort will be

evaluated for potential inclusion in this revision of

the standard. The helmet test capability at

NIST/OLES will also be reestablished. Several

items will be addressed in the revision to this

standard, including: adoption of the NIJ

Standard–0101.04 ballistic threat levels; ballistic

limit testing; revision of the impact measurement

system for performance testing; re-evaluation of

baseline performance requirements;

improvements in the area of test quality

assurance by specifying the use of formal test

procedures; and normalized compliance testing

report forms. After the UVA contract is

completed, a draft of the revised standard will be

developed. This is expected to occur in FY2002.

Progress reports will be provided quarterly.

Revision of NIJ Standard–0307.01,

“Metallic Handcuffs”

The objective of this project is to revise NIJ

Standard–0307.01, "Metallic Handcuffs." The

improvements to this standard would provide a

better way to test and evaluate handcuffs,
8 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

resulting in better equipment being available to

public safety officers.

The classic mass-produced steel handcuff, little

changed over the last 90 years, is used for arrests

and for prisoner transport. The limitations of

traditional handcuffs become evident, particularly

during the transport of prisoners, where prisoners

have been known to pick the double lock with a

bit of wire, or defeat the pawl directly with a

piece of thin material, or break the “cheek plates”

apart at the ratchet pivot. An improved standard

could force desired improvements in the design

of metallic handcuffs.

OLES has been conducting an investigation into

handcuff design parameters and performance test

options. A force-torque apparatus for evaluating

loads applied to typical handcuffs was developed.

A theoretical analysis describing the handcuff

components as curved beams was developed and

used to examine the way in which the stiffness of

those “beams” depends on shape and material

composition.

A contract with Touchstone Research Laboratory

addressed design details and shortcomings

including: longitudinal testing of handcuffs

having no tongues on the cheek plates; factors

affecting the picking of handcuff locks; and

handcuff size issues.

MILESTONES: This effort was identified in last

year’s plan, but was then postponed because of

resource limitations. In FY2001, NIST/OLES will

evaluate the Touchstone report for relevant

information that could be used to improve the

standard. Improved test methods will be

developed, and designs for any special

equipment needed to test handcuffs will be

finalized. A draft of the revised standard and

specifications of specialized test equipment is

planned for September 2001. Follow-on work to

validate the testing methodology is planned for

FY2002.

Revision of NIJ Standard–0104.02,

“Riot Helmets and Face Shields”

The objective of this project is to review NIJ

Standard–0104.02, "Riot Helmets and Face

Shields" and to issue an improved revision. The

current version of the standard was published in

October 1984. Since that time the safety

equipment testing industry as well as the

American Society for Testing and Materials

(ASTM) and the American National Standards

Institute (ANSI) have switched to “headforms”

endorsed by the International Organization for

Standardization (ISO) for all protective headgear

testing. OLES has received, over the past few

years, many complaints from the safety

equipment testing laboratories about the lack of

availability of the “headform” specified in the

NIJ Standard and that this NIJ Standard is not

conforming to the adoption of international

standards wherever feasible. The anticipated

improvements to this standard would allow test

laboratories to use commercially available test

equipment.

MILESTONES: This standard was identified in

last year’s plan, but was then postponed because

of resource limitations. In FY2001, NIST/OLES

will review the standard to identify whether

upgrading the identified threat levels covered in

the current standard is necessary and whether

changing to an ISO “headform” will change the

protection levels covered under the old standard.

Other standards bodies will be consulted to

discuss their rationale for and experiences with

the ISO headform. If changes are necessary,

revised test procedures will be developed and

validated through experimental testing. Any

relevant findings will be documented. If changes

to the standard are warranted, a draft of the new

revision will be developed by the end of FY2001.

Re-Establish OLES’ Research Test

Facility

The objective of this project is to relocate and

improve OLES’ Research Test Facility. The test

facility is used to support work on projects

requiring ballistics capabilities as well as those

that do not. Some of the ballistics-related

projects that will be conducted at this facility

involve gunlock effectiveness, “Smart” gun

evaluations, pistol safety and reliability,

standards development for ballistic resistant

materials, ballistic resistant body armor, and

ballistic helmets. Some of the nonballistics

projects that will be conducted there involve the

development of standards for stab resistant body

armor, riot helmets, handcuffs, and holster safety.

Currently, the laboratory is located in an

underground concrete bunker (the "Pit") at an

abandoned “NIKE Missile Site” that is adjacent

to NIST property. The Pit was designed to house

missiles, not serve as an R&D laboratory.

MILESTONES: Throughout the fiscal year,

NIST/OLES will work with the NIST Plant

Division: Facilities Planning, Engineering, and

Construction to discuss options, and to develop

plans for a new test facility. Construction will

begin as soon as possible.

Development of a Bomb Suit Standard

The objective of this project is to establish

minimum performance requirements and

methods of test for bomb suits to satisfy the
Office of Law Enforcement Standar 9

needs of law enforcement bomb disposal

personnel. This standard will provide a

convenient means whereby agencies can

confidently purchase bomb suits that meet certain

basic safety and functional requirements.

Currently, there is no NIJ standard for bomb suits

used by law enforcement explosive disposal

personnel. Suitable standards may exist, but they

have not yet been identified or adopted for use by

NIJ.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, NIST/OLES will

consult with explosives experts in law

enforcement and the military to identify essential

features of bomb suits and rating categories.

Existing commercial, military, and international

standards will be evaluated to determine if any

are suitable for use by law enforcement. The

standard, whether it is an adopted standard, a

modified version of an existing standard, or a

new standard, will be validated through

experimental testing in FY2001. The final draft

standard will be available for comment and

review in FY2002. Progress reports will be

provided quarterly.

Revision of NIJ Standard–0113.00,

“12-Gauge Shotguns for Police Use”

The objective of this project is to establish

minimum performance requirements and

methods of test for shotguns to be used by law

enforcement officers. This standard can be used

to ensure that shotguns selected for use meet

certain basic dimensional, functional, safety, and

firing requirements.

The current base version of the standard, NIJ

Standard–0113.00, was released in March 1989.

It is due for a periodic review and update.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, NIST/OLES will

evaluate the current version of the standard and

consult with law enforcement and corrections

representatives and industry to obtain their

comments. A revised draft of the standard will

be developed. In FY2002, the test methods in

the standard will be validated through

experimental testing and then the draft standard

will be circulated for comment and review.

Progress on this effort will be provided quarterly.

A final draft is expected by the end of FY2002.

Development of a Test Protocol for

Gunlocks

The objective of this project is to develop a

standard test protocol for evaluating gunlocks.

This test protocol will serve the interest of the

general consumer and also provide guidance to

lock and firearms manufacturers. This test

protocol will ultimately promote public safety by

establishing a consistent method for assessing the

performance of gunlocks.

Some work was done last year to survey the

market for popular products used to safely store

guns. An informational brief was prepared for

NIJ, describing safe firearm storage options while

also considering the intended uses of the

firearms.

Gun safety is a common theme in the news

media. Congress requested the U.S. Department

of Justice (USDOJ) to investigate ways of

increasing handgun safety. This project is one of

the steps taken to address the Congressional

request. Other projects, such as the development

of a “smart gun,” also address the Congressional

request.

Several states have recently passed firearms

safety measures. A Maryland law now requires

that all new handguns be sold with locks. This

law also requires that by 2002, all firearms sold

in the state must have an internal integrated

locking device to prevent children and other

unauthorized users from using the firearm.

Massachusetts uses consumer protection

regulations to prohibit the sale of firearms

without tamper-resistant serial numbers, childprotection features, and trigger locks. Michigan

and New York also require trigger locks to be

sold with each new firearm. California is

currently considering enacting similar types of

legislation.

With such emphasis on firearm safety measures,

it is inevitable that certain issues will be raised;

such as defining how good a locking mechanism

must be, and describing how to assess the locking

mechanism to determine if it is acceptable for its

intended application.

MILESTONES: The research needed to support

the development of a draft test protocol will be

conducted in FY2001, and the protocol is

expected in FY2002. In FY2001, NIST/OLES

plans to award a contract in this area.

Manufacturers will be consulted to identify their

concerns and develop ideas for standardized test

methods that can be used to stress a lock to

reasonable levels to ensure that it performs as

intended.

Development of a Holster Standard

The objective of this project is to develop a

standard for holsters used by law enforcement.

This standard will provide a consistent method

for assessing the performance of holsters and

defining acceptable performance levels for law

enforcement purposes.

ds
10 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

The advancement in holster design has been

unprecedented in recent years, and the

development and use of "security" type holsters

may well be a factor in the general reduction in

the number of officers killed by their own guns in

the past several years. Manufacturers have

developed a preliminary ranking system, which

designates holsters as Level I, II, or III retention

holsters. This ranking effectively evaluates the

difficulty encountered by someone, other than the

officer, in removing the gun from the holster.

There is also an increased difficulty for the

officer to draw his gun as the retention level

increases, resulting in the need for an increased

amount of training and practice to become

proficient. To standardize the definitions of

retention, NIJ has indicated a need for an NIJ

Standard for Law Enforcement Holsters.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, holster

manufacturers will be surveyed to determine if

the methods they employ to design and evaluate

the quality, durability, reliability, and security of

their holsters can be applied to this standard.

Information will also be gathered from law

enforcement agencies, primarily to identify

problems with holsters, and identify the types of

holsters which need to be addressed by the

standard. The OLES force-torque apparatus will

be evaluated to determine if it is useful for

characterizing the forces necessary to defeat

various holster retention levels.

A draft standard is expected in FY2002. Once

the draft standard has been completed and

preliminary validation tests conducted, the draft

standard will enter the standard review process

for comments from the manufacturers and law

enforcement community. Comments will be

reviewed and incorporated as appropriate, and a

final draft of the standard will be submitted for

promulgation.

Support of Protective Gloves Test

Protocol

The objective of this project is to provide

technical support to NLECTC at Rockville,

Maryland in their testing program for protective

gloves for law enforcement and corrections users.

Law enforcement and corrections officers have

been increasingly requesting hand protection as

part of their protection equipment package. They

need gloves that will protect them from sharp

objects such as blades and hypodermic needles.

The gloves also have to be resistant to pathogen

penetration and have sufficient dexterity and

tactility such that officers can perform their

normal duties.

OLES issued the protective glove test protocol as

NIJ Test Protocol 99–114, “Test Protocol for

Comparative Evaluation of Protective Gloves for

Law Enforcement and Correction Applications,”

in June 1999. OLES also helped NLECTC in

selecting qualified glove testing labs through a

competitive process. This resulted in the

selection of Touchstone Labs and

TRI/Environmental Labs as the two NIJ qualified

labs to conduct protective glove testing in

accordance with NIJ Test Protocol 99–114.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, OLES will provide

technical support to NLECTC, including travel to

the testing labs, observing the glove testing,

providing technical support to the labs and

clarifying to them any questions that they may

have with regard to the glove testing protocol

and helping NLECTC with interpretation of test

data from the labs.

Holster retention systems for law

enforcement officers have saved lives.

Samples of protective gloves.
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 11

Development of a Test Protocol for

Evaluation of “Smart Guns”

The objective of this project is to develop a

standard test protocol for evaluating firearms that

will function only when operated by the

authorized user(s). This test protocol will ensure

that there is a consistent method for assessing

smart gun performance. This is expected to

result in better comparisons between competing

designs, and identify products suitable for law

enforcement applications.

Gun safety has received significant coverage in

the news media. The USDOJ was requested by

Congress to investigate ways of increasing

handgun safety. One project described earlier

deals with gunlocks. Other projects, such as this

one dealing with the development of a “smart

gun,” also address the Congressional request.

NIJ awarded a contract to a major firearms

manufacturer to develop a "smart gun" prototype.

After several years of research and development

(R&D), the manufacturer developed a prototype.

Recently, the contractor ceased further

development of its “smart gun,” and made a

business decision to dramatically scale back its

stake in the firearms industry. Meanwhile

several other manufacturers are continuing with

their versions of the “smart guns,” but they must

be evaluated before NIJ can endorse any of them.

To do this, comprehensive laboratory testing at

NIST/OLES, as well as limited field-testing, is

necessary.

A study conducted by Sandia National

Laboratories in the mid-1990s defined the

operational requirements for firearms utilizing

smart gun technologies. A consistent test

protocol is needed so that the performance of

smart guns against those, or somewhat modified,

requirements can be assessed.

MILESTONES: Depending upon the pace of

smart gun development, NIST/OLES will tailor a

program to satify NIJ’s needs in this area.

NIST/OLES will continue to meet with

manufacturers to evaluate their designs and offer

feedback that will improve the design. As

designs mature, NIST/OLES will assist in

developing a plan to conduct limited field testing

of prototype smart guns at participating law

enforcement agencies.

Development of an Armored Car

Standard

The objective of this project is to develop an NIJ

standard for the minimum performance

requirements and methods of test for armored

cars. A standard would provide a consistent

means by which to assess the performance of

armored cars, allowing the purchasing agent to

purchase an armored vehicle with confidence that

it will meet certain performance levels.

OLES has been working with the U.S. Secret

Service, Department of State, and Department of

Defense to settle on an acceptable approach.

Existing ballistics and explosives test protocols

from American and European groups have been

reviewed and a proposed test sequence has been

performed several times to evaluate these

protocols for consistency and ease of use.

There currently is no U.S. standard describing the

protection levels of armored cars used for

personal protection. As a result, there have been

instances where vendors have advertised their

armored cars as being able to defeat certain types

of threats. Field tests have shown some of these

claims to be false. To rectify this situation, a

uniform standard is needed that clearly defines

the types of threats being tested and the test

methods. In addition to the ballistic and

explosive threats, this standard must also

consider that other automotive performance

parameters are important, such as acceleration,

braking, and handling.

MILESTONES: This effort was identified in last

year’s plan, but was then postponed because of

resource limitations. NIST/OLES will collaborate

with working group members to better define the

proposed test methods and threat levels, and

then develop a draft standard. Test methods will

be validated through experimental testing. A

preliminary draft standard is planned for early

FY2001. For further review, there are plans to

convene an advisory group to assess the

preliminary draft standard. Comments from the

advisory group will be addressed before the final

standard is drafted. Further refinements to the

standard are expected to carry over into FY2002.

Accomplishments

! Publication of NIJ Standard–0101.04,

“Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armor.”

This latest revision of the “body armor standard”

forms the basis of the compliance testing

program run by NIJ to certify body armor.

! Completed work on stab resistant body

armor standard. The collaboration with the

Police Scientific Development Branch in the

U.K. led to the development of NIJ Standard–

0115.00, “Stab Resistance of Personal Body

Armor.” The standard was published in

September 2000.
12 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

! Publication of Revision A to NIJ Standard–

0112.03, “Autoloading Pistols for Police

Officers.” This revision provided additional

clarification to the recently published standard.

NIST/OLES participated in the evaluation of test

results of many models of autoloading pistols that

were tested to this new standard at two approved

independent laboratories.

! OLES’ Ballistics Research Test Facility was

utilized to obtain residue from gunshots in

support of NIST’s Chemical Sciences and

Technology Laboratory (CSTL) forensics

projects.

! Overview of body armor standards presented

at the Personal Armour Systems Symposium

(PASS). An international audience was briefed

on the standards development process used in the

U.S. to develop the ballistic resistant and stab

resistant body armor standards.

Publications

NIJ Standard–0101.04, “Ballistic Resistance of Personal

Body Armor,” September 2000.

NIJ Standard–0115.00, “Stab Resistance of Personal Body

Armor,” September 2000.

NIJ Standard–0112.03A, Autoloading Pistols for Police

Officers, Revision A, July 1999.

NIJ Test Protocol 114–99, “Test Protocol for Comparative

Evaluation of Protective Gloves for Law Enforcement and

Corrections Applications,” June 1999.
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 13

Detection,

Inspection, and

Enforcement

Technologies

Project Goals

To manage programs, direct research and

development efforts, and develop performance

standards, guidelines and reports for equipment

for detection, inspection, and enforcement in

support of the goals and priorities of both NIST

and the outside agency sponsors. To provide

technical support to the traffic enforcement

system as administered by the National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the

International Association of Chiefs of Police

(IACP).

Technical Strategy

Detection, inspection and enforcement

technologies employed by law enforcement to

safeguard civilians in and about public premises

and on our roads and national highways are

investigated. To promote cost effective

purchases of equipment by the law enforcement

community, OLES develops and publishes

technical reports, equipment guides, and

standards. To evaluate and test equipment,

OLES also creates performance specifications

and reference artifacts. Representative

technologies in this program area currently

investigated include: devices for imaging and

detecting concealed weapons, detectors for

locating electronically detonated bombs,

improved surveillance cameras, human and

vehicle recognition systems, and x-ray systems

for bomb disarmament. To promote safe roads,

OLES works with NHTSA and the IACP to

develop performance specifications and

procedures for testing radar, lidar, and photoradar

speed enforcement devices. OLES also works on

emergency vehicle warning-light systems and

sirens, and has developed computer software to

aid police fleet managers to select and purchase

patrol vehicles, to estimate expected repair costs,

and to make vehicle disposal/replacement

decisions.

Development of Systems to Evaluate

Magnetic Fields Produced by WalkThrough and Hand-Held Metal

Detectors

Walk-through (WT) and hand-held (HH) metal

detectors, primary tools used in security

screening applications, produce time-varying

magnetic fields that may cause personal medical

devices (PMEDs), such as cardiac defibrillators,

infusion devices, or spinal cord stimulators to

malfunction. If an affordable magnetic field

emulator can be developed, PMED

manufacturers would be able to test devices for

interferences from WT and HH metal detectors,

and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

could assess interference thresholds and issue

regulatory susceptibility standards for PMEDs.

MILESTONES: By mid FY2001, design and

construct one prototype emulator for WT

detectors and deliver to the FDA.

Terahertz-Wave Concealed Weapon

Imaging and Detection System

Development

The Law Enforcement and Corrections

Technology Advisory Council (LECTAC) has

listed concealed weapon detection and imaging

as their top law enforcement and corrections

(LEC) priority. Present metal weapon detectors

are inadequate because of their limited range

(less than 15 cm for a hand-held device and less

than 0.5 m for a walk-through device) and form

(hand-held device is a wand and the walkthrough is a portal). Presently, the techniques

that have been mentioned use frequencymodulated continuous wave radar (FMCW) and

passive millimeter-wave (PMMW) technologies.

Both FMCW and PMMW techniques are

expensive and do not provide unambiguous

images. The ambiguity of these images presents

liability issues for subsequent search.

Furthermore, present PMMW research systems

are not capable of providing images inside or

near buildings.

MILESTONES: By mid FY2001, assemble and

validate electronics subsystem for processing and

displaying image data.

Improved Handgun Replica for Test

and Evaluation of Hand-Held (HH) and

Walk-Through (WT) Metal Detectors

To ensure that WT and HH metal detectors

function properly requires that the metal

detectors exhibit positive detection of threat

objects, that is, weapons (such as handguns,

Technical Contact:

A. George Lieberman

Thomas Russell

Staff-Years:

9.0 professionals

Funding Sources:

100% Other Government

Agencies

Project Champions:

• Building and Fire Research

Laboratory (BFRL), Office

of Applied Economics

• EEEL, Electricity Division:

- Electrical Systems Group

- Electronic

Instrumentation and

Metrology Group

- Fundamental Electrical

Measurements Group

• EEEL, Radio-Frequency

Technology Division:

- Radio-Frequency

Electronics Group

- Radio-Frequency Fields

Group

• EEEL, Electromagnetic

Technology Division,

Cryoelectronic Metrology

• Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI),

Engineering Research

Facility, Quantico, VA

• Home Office, Police

Scientific Development

Branch (PSDB), United

Kingdom

• Independent Testing and

Consulting, Inc., Eaton

Rapids, MI

• Information Technology

Laboratory (ITL),

Mathematical and

Computational Sciences

Division

• Manufacturing Engineering

Laboratory, Automated

Production Technology

Division

• Royal Canadian Mounted

Police, Ottawa, Ontario,

Canada

• University of Maryland,

College Park, Center for

Automation Research,

College Park, MD

• University of Texas at

Dallas (UTD), The School

of Human Development,

Richardson, TX
14 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

knives, razor blades) or other objects that can be

used to defeat security restraints (such as

handcuff keys or paper clips). Actual threat

items cannot be used as test objects because

variability of manufacture would not allow

measurement reproducibility. Therefore, threat

object replicas having well-defined material

composition and dimensional sizes and tolerances

must be used. Unlike most threat objects, the

handgun has a complex shape and consists of

several metals.

MILESTONES: By end of FY2001, identify

minimally detectable handguns for use as

exemplars and design accurate replicas (based

on the exemplars) for testing WT and HH metal

detectors.

Measurement of Electrical Properties of

Metals Used in Hand-Held (HH)

Weapons

The law enforcement community has demanded

improved detection performance, performance

tests, and performance specifications for the

hand-held (HH) and walk-through (WT) metal

detectors. These demands have resulted in

performance tests that are more complex, timeconsuming, and costly than previous test

procedures. To allay the cost of tests for

development of more complicated metal

detection systems and to expedite the

development of these systems, it is important to

have reliable data on the electromagnetic

properties of weapon-grade metals from which to

perform computer simulations of detector

performance. Reliable conductivity and

permeability measurements of many metals used

for weapons do not exist in the literature.

MILESTONES: By end of FY2001, measure the

magnetic permeability and electrical conductivity

of metals commonly used in hand-held weapons

from 100 Hz to 10 MHz frequency range; produce

a material database; and summarize the

measurement techniques in a report.

Development of 2D Monolithic

Microbolometer Imaging Arrays for

Concealed Weapons Imaging

Presently, there are no monolithic imaging array

technologies that are being developed in the

frequency range of 100 GHz to 1 THz. This

range is the most appropriate for concealed

weapons imaging because of the relatively short

wavelength and the ability to penetrate clothing

material. Monolithic detector arrays, using

silicon integrated circuit processing technology,

have the promise of being very inexpensive

compared to present hybrid approaches (the

detector, mixer, local oscillator, etc., for each

pixel). Furthermore, the present hybrid arrays

must be scanned to provide sufficient areal

coverage and resolution, and this scanning

reduces system ruggedness and increases system

cost. The low cost microbolometer arrays would

simplify the design and lower the cost of 100

GHz to 1 THz concealed weapons imaging and

detection systems, and this cost savings would

benefit the law enforcement community.

MILESTONES: By end of FY2001, integrate

wafer-scale microblometer detector array with

reflective optics and read-out electronics.

Identification and Characterization of

Materials that Emulate the Low

Frequency Electromagnetic (EM)

Properties of the Human Body

Hand-held and walk-through metal detectors used

for security applications may emit frequencies

close to those used by PMEDs. The safety of

persons that rely on PMEDs is not an avoidable

issue. Unfortunately, there is little information,

other than anecdotal, about the interaction of

PMEDs with HH and WT metal detectors.

Furthermore, recent revisions of the NIJ

standards for HH and WT metal detectors contain

a body cavity concealment test. This test is based

on using concealment by a person and, although

this test is representative of actual use, it is not

reproducible or accurate. What is desired is a

material that can mimic the electromagnetic

properties of the human body over the frequency

range of 80 Hz to 10 MHz so that the body cavity

concealment test can be made reproducible and

repeatable. Moreover, these materials can be

used by PMED manufacturers and the FDA to

more accurately evaluate the effect of metal

detectors on PMED operation and performance.

Presently, NIST is working in collaboration with

the FDA and the Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) regarding metal-detector-induced failure

and malfunction of PMEDs.

MILESTONES: By end of FY2001, complete

measurements of candidate materials and

recommend optimal phantom material.

Liquid-Filled Camera for Enhancement

of Shadow Detail

Video cameras used for surveillance and

machine-vision applications often suffer from

inadequate contrast capabilities, particularly in

rendering details in shadows or dark regions. A

camera technology that simulates the design of

the eye promises to enable electronic cameras to
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 15

render shadow detail that was previously

impossible.

MILESTONES: By end of FY2002, build a 12 bit

to 16 bit scientific grade charge-coupled device

(CCD) liquid-filled camera with housing and

plumbing to provide continuous particulate

filtration of the identified, low-viscosity, indexmatching liquid-filler; test performance of internal

aperture and computer model front lens design;

increase dynamic range using thermoelectric

cooling for mitigation of thermal gradient; reduce

surface scattering at front lens element by

wetting external surface of lens.

NIJ Standard–0603.00, X-Ray Systems

for Bomb Disarmament

The latest Justice Department standard for x-ray

systems for bomb disarmament was published

during 1975. Changes in technology and changes

in safety requirements imposed by other agencies

have not since been documented. The laboratory

selected for developing this standard, the Police

Scientific Development Branch (PSDB) in the

U.K., has considerable expertise and experience

in testing and deploying portable x-ray

equipment. The PSDB has comprehensive

laboratory facilities, including a large lead-lined

laboratory and a variety of x-ray generators. The

Explosive and Weapons Detection Group staff at

PSDB are familiar with the general requirements

of x-ray imaging systems and generators, as well

as the associated health and safety issues.

MILESTONES: By the end of FY2001, the

standard will be revised. Available commercial

equipment will be tested for compliance to the

standard and reported upon.

Emergency Vehicle Sirens Project

The objective of this project is to provide law

enforcement agencies and other users of

emergency vehicle sirens, such as emergency

medical and fire services, with a single,

improved, comprehensive document that includes

test methods, performance criteria, and mounting

and installation guidelines for sirens, which can

be referenced in purchasing and other documents.

It would be very useful if this siren document

were cited by all public safety agencies and used

in a siren certification program that includes an

independent test laboratory and laboratory

certification agency. To support the project, an

NIJ siren guide was recently produced that

informs law enforcement agencies about other

documents that are currently recognized and used

by the siren industry to specify siren tests,

performance requirements, and mounting and

installation guidelines.

MILESTONES: By the end of FY2001, the initial

phase 1 revision of a document of the Society of

Automotive Engineers (SAE), SAE J1849, will be

completed and forwarded to the SAE Emergency

Warning Devices Committee.

Developing Evaluation Standards for

Video and Still-Face Recognition

Systems

During FY1997 and FY1998, a digital video

picture and still-picture database was collected

and methods for evaluating digital video-based

face recognition systems were developed. These

two activities laid the foundation for the Digital

Video Face Recognition Evaluation Conference

(DV-FREC). The project will run from FY1999

through FY2002, and is jointly funded by the

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

(DARPA) and NIJ. DV-FREC will

independently evaluate the performance of digital

video-based face recognition algorithms and

develop standardized test procedures.

Under this project, three DV-FREC evaluation

conferences will be held. The product resulting

from the first conference is expected to be ground

truthing and scoring software, and an evaluation

protocol. Conference proceedings and a final

report of the conference will be published. Two

additional conferences will be held to encourage

and to measure progress. Appropriate evaluation

and data collection protocols will be designed to

support the focus areas of the subsequent

conferences.

A separate research effort, funded through OLES,

involves continued collaboration with the

University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). This

project compares human and algorithm

performance, and attempts to characterize how

humans recognize faces.

MILESTONES: During FY2001, video-based

close-up face recognition combined with gait at a

distance will be developed and evaluated. Trials

based upon the First Human Identification

Database Conference (HID-1) will be used to

baseline algorithmic performance and establish

empirical performance matrices.

Auto Rank

The disposal and replacement of police patrol

vehicles have major cost consequences for law

enforcement budgets. Auto Rank is a

sophisticated, statistical repair model developed

at NIST and implemented in DOS software. The

method uses data on the frequency of repairs for

a vehicle class to estimate a generalized model of

vehicle repairs based on the Weibull distribution,
16 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

which is widely used for reliability analysis.

Then, for each vehicle in the fleet, the model uses

data on the particular vehicle’s pattern of repairs

to estimate expected repair costs for that vehicle

over the coming period. Vehicle repair estimates

can be grouped by repair category. The model

then ranks all vehicles for disposal based on

expected repair costs, operation and maintenance

costs, and loss of resale value. The fleet manager

then disposes of those vehicles with the highest

predicted costs, resulting in a cost-effective

strategy for vehicle disposal and replacement.

MILESTONES: By end of FY2001, complete all

data collection on the failure/repair experience of

several large fleets and prepare standardized

data files for statistical analysis. Conduct

statistical analysis on the failure/repair data to

develop national estimates of repair frequencies,

given the repair category, model, year, and time

of (or mileage at) the most recent

failure/replacement (this analysis will rely on the

Weibull distribution statistical model that NIST

has already developed). Design and develop

data files on repair frequencies to support

dynamic computation of estimated future repair

costs, even for small fleets, without sufficient

data for on-line Weibull analysis. Develop

software user interface, menu structure, and data

entry modules for fleet managers to record all

their vehicles and repair histories. These data

will be used to support estimation of future repair

costs for each vehicle, taking into account its

particular repair history.

AutoBid

A microcomputer system called AutoBid was

developed to help police fleet managers select

patrol vehicles best suited to their needs. The

system is based on vehicle performance data for

police patrol models published annually by the

Michigan State Police and NIJ. AutoBid

currently runs only on the DOS platform in

character mode and has no graphical, windowslike features. An updated version of AutoBid

with a modern, graphical interface is needed for

all computer platforms.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, prepare the data

files for the 2001 model year vehicles based on

the latest Michigan State Police test results.

These files will include the performance scores

for ranking vehicles as well as the detailed

hardware specifications of all tested vehicles.

Post the new files on the NIJ web site and modify

the HTML page for accessing the Java AutoBid

software to permit users to select whether they

want to analyze the 2000 or the 2001 model year

data. Complete the AutoBid version that

supports value based analysis based on

comments and suggestions received from the

beta test. Add help screens to support the new

features and design. Release the new software

to the NIJ Internet site. Develop a brochure on

AutoBid describing its features and how to access

it on the NIJ Internet site.

Support of NHTSA Speed

Enforcement/Measurement Program

Across-the-road Doppler radar systems are being

increasingly used by law enforcement authorities

for measuring vehicle speeds on the nation’s

highways. These systems differ from older,

down-the-road radar guns that are aligned with

the direction of motion of the moving target

vehicle, to obtain a more accurate reading of

vehicle speed.

The principle advantage of the across-the-road

configuration, from a law enforcement viewpoint,

is that the radar can readily differentiate between

vehicles in dense traffic and can provide fast and

automated identification of offenders using

photographic techniques, while giving drivers

essentially no advance warning of the radar’s

presence. The disadvantage of this technique is

that the Doppler frequency shift from which the

target speed is derived is no longer constant, but

will vary with time as the cosine of the angle

between the fixed direction of target motion and

the fixed radar beam changes. This creates a

very complex Doppler Spectrum with time,

which is processed by the radar system using Purchasing of police vehicles is aided by

AutoBid.

Law enforcement officer using a traditional

down-the-road radar gun during speed

enforcement operations.
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 17

proprietary algorithms to yield a measurement of

the vehicle’s speed. Consequently, it is essential

that the measurement accuracy of these systems

be guaranteed through frequent calibration using

a reliable and traceable calibration standard.

MILESTONES: By end of FY2001, develop and

build two improved prototype calibration devices

intended to be used in compliance testing of

automated across-the-road radar. One device is

to be operated at the assigned police radar

frequency centered at 24.1 GHz (K-band), the

other centered at 34.7 GHz (Kalpha-band).

Support for Concealed Weapon and

Contraband Detection Technology

There are a variety of activities and technologies

pertinent to the detection of concealed weapon

and contraband in which OLES is involved.

These technologies include chemical weapon

detection, drug detection, metal weapon

detection, explosives detection, etc. The

activities include standards development, writing

user guidelines, and funding research appropriate

for justice-related programs. The number of

technologies covered by OLES is extensive and it

is difficult to maintain the expertise required for

providing assistance to the law enforcement and

corrections community without adequate

manpower.

The objective of this project is to provide

technical assistance to OLES in the area of

concealed weapons and contraband using

electromagnetic technologies (EM).

MILESTONES: In FY2001, 1) participate in

Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology

Advisory Council meetings and other pertinent

meetings, 2) review proposals related to EM

detection methods for contraband and weapon

detection, and 3) provide technical assistance to

OLES staff regarding EM detection methods for

contraband and weapon detection.

Law Enforcement Data Exchange of the

World Wide Web

For more than a decade, NIST has sponsored the

development of data interchange standards within

the law enforcement community. This effort has

culminated in the recent adoption of

ANSI/NIST–ITL 1–2000, a data format for the

interchange of fingerprint, facial, and scar mark

and tattoo (SMT) information. This standard

defines a structured framework for representing

and exchanging rap sheets, fingerprints, and

mugshots, and it has been implemented and

integrated into virtually all commercial

fingerprint identification systems.

In the past, a law enforcement agency would

purchase technology from a vendor who would

provide a proprietary dedicated network for

interchanging proprietary formatted data records.

The proprietary nature of these systems often

restricted the exchange of data between different

agencies and jurisdictions. The ANSI/NIST

standard has made great strides in facilitating the

open exchange of law enforcement data. The

impact of this open exchange will be significantly

increased by taking advantage of the

accessibility, connectivity, and mobility afforded

by the World Wide Web.

The primary objective of this proposed project is

to implement the ANSI/NIST standard on the

World Wide Web, thereby merging the open

exchange of data provided by the ANSI/NIST

standard with the desktop accessibility provided

by the Web.

MILESTONES: 1) Release ANSI/NIST plug-ins

four months after the start of the project, 2)

Release Workstation software 10 months after

the start of the project, and 3) Publish a technical

summary of project 12 months after it starts.

Accomplishments

The manuscript, Equations for the Magnetic

Field Produced by One or More Rectangular

Loops of Wire in the Same Plane, was accepted

for publication in the July-August issue of the

NIST Journal of Research. This paper contains

equations and a Basic program, which predict the

magnetic flux density from up to three

rectangular coils situated in a common plane. The

coil geometry can be found in some walk-through

metal detectors and product surveillance systems.

! Drafted NIJ Guide 600–00, User’s Guide for

Hand-Held and Walk-Through Metal Detectors,

April 2000. This guide addresses the theory and

operational limits of hand-held (HH) and walkthrough (WT) metal weapon detectors. It is

intended to clarify NIJ Standard–0601.01 and NIJ

Standard–0602.01 for HH and WT metal weapon

detectors. It also includes general training

information for instructors and supervisors, a

brief discussion of safety topics, as well as a list

of present suppliers of HH and WT devices.

! Drafted NIJ Guide 602–00, Guide to the

Technologies of Concealed Weapon and

Contraband Imaging and Detection, April 2000.

This guide provides information to help present

or potential users and operators of Concealed

Weapons and Contraband Imaging and Detection

Systems (CWCIDS) understand the operation,
18 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

limitations, and applicability of CWCIDS and to

provide an overview of the state of development.

It contains a review of various technologies (such

as x-ray imaging, microwave holography,

acoustic detection) and discusses CWCIDS

configurations that are now being used or

developed to detect and image weapons and

contraband on humans.

! Published NISTIR 5096, Detection of QuasiStatic Electric Fields Radiated by Electrically

Small Emitters, June 2000. This report presents

the theory for near-field detection of quasi-static

electric fields produced by electrically small

emitters that radiate as small electric dipoles. The

intended application is the detection of electronic

timers of the type that could be used in bomb

detonators.

! Submitted Report DOT HS 808–999, Speed

Measuring Device Performance Specifications:

Photo-Radar Module, to NHTSA for publication.

Developed under an interagency agreement with

NHTSA, this report sets systems performance

requirements and verification procedures for

automated across-the-road radar. Adoption of the

specifications by the IACP is expected to result

in improved system accuracy and reliability, and

in traffic administrators making better informed

purchasing decisions. As automated across-theroad radar systems become more prevalent, the

number and severity of automobile accidents on

U.S. highways resulting from excessive speeds is

expected to significantly diminish, as it has

elsewhere in the world under similar conditions.

! Submitted Report DOT HS 808–998, Speed

Measuring Device Performance Specifications:

Radar Module, to NHTSA for publication.

Traffic radar devices meeting or exceeding these

performance specifications are internationally

recognized by police, courts, and the public as

being reliable and accurate. Compliance testing

is performed at independent university

laboratories administered by the IACP under a

grant from NHTSA. High speed and congestion

are the leading causes of automobile crashes on

urban interstates. Speed enforcement utilizing

IACP-certified compliant radar units helps police

and courts promote traffic safety.

! Presented at SPIE Conference and published

in Conference Proceeding 3795, the paper,

“Antenna-Coupled Niobium Bolometers for mmWave Imaging Arrays,” July 1999. Millimeterwave imaging pixels were tested. The pixels

consist of half-wave dipole antennas coupled to

niobium microbolometer detectors on an

electrically thick silicon substrate. To improve

the signal-to-noise ratio, the uncooled detectors

are operated in a pulsed illumination and gated

integration architecture. These arrays are being

developed to demonstrate the feasibility of an

active mm-wave concealed weapon imaging

system. Most clothing and many common

building materials are transmissive to

electromagnetic radiation at millimeter

wavelengths.

! Siren Testing: Round-Robin Testing Shows

Good Agreement. Showed the feasibility and

reliability of doing acoustic testing on siren

loudspeakers separately from their electronic

signal amplifiers. In a project for OLES, the

Manufacturing and Engineering Laboratory's

Acoustics, Mass, and Vibration Group, in

cooperation with a committee of the SAE, did an

intercomparison of siren tests using NIST’s large

anechoic chamber, and two industrial

laboratories. The results were in close

agreement, on the order of 1 dB, for sound

pressure levels measured by the laboratories.

This is encouraging to the SAE committee, which

hopes to revise a recommended practice,

permitting siren loudspeakers and siren

amplifiers to be tested separately.

! Siren Amplifier Testing: Instrument

Comparison Shows Good Agreement. Ten siren

amplifiers from six manufacturers were tested,

using two dissimilar instruments: a one-third

octave band real-time analyzer and a Fast Fourier

Transform (FFT)-based dynamic signal analyzer

to characterize their electrical output. The SAE

committee responsible for siren standards is

developing new procedures in which siren

speakers and siren electrical components can be

tested separately. Currently, the plan is to define

standard signals that can be used to test siren

loudspeakers, and develop test procedures that

compare the amplifier outputs with these

standard signals. (A siren amplifier, by

definition, incorporates a signal generator.)

! OLES’ Police Car Purchasing Aid is now a

Click Away. DOS-based police car selection

program, AutoBid, was written into a Java

program. One version can be run by itself, while

the other so-called applet version is only a couple

clicks away. Both versions are available on the

Web at the following address:

http://www.nlectc.org/autobid/overview.html.

The user describes numerically what features are

most important to his or her department, and the

program ranks available police cars. This project
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 19

was done by NIST’s Office of Applied

Economics, BFRL, and sponsored by OLES.

Publications

NIJ Guide 201–99, “Video Surveillance Equipment Selection

and Application Guide,” October 1999.

NIJ Guide 500–00, “Guide to Test Methods, Performance

Requirements, and Installation Practices for Electronic Sirens

Used on Law Enforcement Vehicles,” August 2000.

NIST Technical Note 1398, “Portable Calibrator for Acrossthe-Road Radar Systems,” May 1998.

NISTIR 5072, “Spherical-Wave Characterization of Interior

and Exterior Electromagnetic Sources,” December 1997.

NISTIR 5079, “Dipole Moments of Weak, Electrically Small

Emitters from TEM-Cell Measurements,” December 1998.

NISTIR 5096, “Detection of Quasi-Static Electric Fields

Radiated by Electrically Small Emitters,” June 2000.

NISTIR 5787, AutoBid 2.0, "The Microcomputer System for

Police Patrol Vehicle Selection,” revised June 1998.

NIST GCR 99–771, “State of Oregon Criminal Justice

Information System: Mug Shot Imaging Project,” approved

for publication September 1999.

Proceedings of SPIE Reprint, “Enforcement and Security

Technologies," November 1998.

“Specific NIST Projects in Support of Concealed Weapon

Detection and Imaging Program,” SPIE Volume 3575, Law

Enforcement and Securities Technology Conference

(November 1998), Boston, MA (N. Paulter).

“Antenna-Coupled Niobium Bolometers for mm-Wave

Imaging Arrays,” SPIE Volume 3795, Optical Science,

Engineering and Instrumentation Conference (July 1999),

Denver, CO (S. Nolen, et. al.).

“Equations for the Magnetic Field Produced by One or More

Rectangular Loops of Wire in the Same Plane,” NIST Journal

of Research, (July/August 2000), Gaithersburg, MD (M.

Misakian).

NIJ Standard–0601.01, “Walk-Through Metal Detectors for

Use in Weapon and Contraband Detection,” September 2000.

 NIJ Standard–0602.01, “Hand-Held Metal Detectors for Use

in Weapon and Contraband Detection,” September 2000.

NHTSA Technical Report DOT HS 808–998, “Speed

Measuring Device Performance Specifications: Radar

Module,” in print.

NHTSA Technical Report DOT HS 808–999, “Speed

Measuring Device Performance Specifications: Photoradar

Module,” in print.

NIJ Standard–0227.00, “Digital Intercept System for

Integrated Services Digital Networks,” in print.
20 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Chemical Systems

and Materials

Project Goals

To manage programs and direct research and

development efforts in the areas of polymers,

chemical systems and materials, including, but

not limited to, protective clothing and equipment,

detection drugs of abuse, less-than-lethal

technologies, and weapons of mass destruction.

To develop quality assurance programs and

performance standards, guidelines, and reports in

support of the goals and priorities of both NIST

and the outside agency sponsors.

Technical Strategy

Development of a NIST Standard

Reference Material “Additives in

Gunpowder”

Most handgun and improvised explosives (pipe

bomb) crimes involve the use of smokeless

gunpowder. Forensic investigators are

increasingly measuring the composition of the

gunpowder and its recovered residues to help

identify the source of the powder as part of

criminal investigations. However, there currently

are no smokeless powder samples of known

composition for use in analytical method

evaluation and measurement proficiency testing.

To assure the quality of gunpowder

measurements, OLES is funding work through

the Analytical Chemistry Division of the

Chemical Sciences and Technology Laboratory

(CSTL) at NIST to develop a Standard Reference

Material (SRM), “Additives in Smokeless

Gunpowder,” that will aid forensic investigators

in testing and validating their analytical

measurement techniques.

Smokeless gunpowder is a mixture of

propellants, such as nitrocellulose and

nitroglycerin (NG), as well as stabilizers such as

diphenylamine (DPA) and ethyl centralite (EC).

The proposed SRM will consist of two types of

gunpowder, ball and extruded powders, with

certified concentrations of NG, DPA, and EC.

The certification of chemical composition SRMs

typically requires the use of two or more

chemically independent analytical techniques to

provide measurements, which if in agreement,

are used to assign certified values to the material.

MILESTONES: The development of the

analytical methods for certification of the SRMs

will be completed and preliminary compositional

measurements on the two prototype SRMs will be

made to assess the agreement of the

independent techniques. The independent

techniques will be applied to the detailed

certification measurements of the candidate

gunpowder materials for the SRM. Rigorous

statistical evaluation of the data will permit

determination of the certified values for the three

additives.

Standard Reference Materials for

Bullets and Casings

As with fingerprints, every firearm has unique

characteristics that leave unique signatures on the

bullets and casings that it fires. By analyzing

these ballistics signatures, examiners can connect

a firearm to bullets or casings discharged during

criminal acts. The Integrated Ballistics

Identification System (IBIS) has proven

extremely effective as an automated tool for this

process. IBIS uses techniques of image capture,

image analysis, and electronic databases.

However, to demonstrate completely the

reliability of this system, high quality

measurement standards for bullets and casings

are required. Their key properties include

uniformity, reproducibility, and stability. These

standard bullets and casings will serve as check

standards to demonstrate both the consistency of

operation of IBIS from day to day as well as the

consistency between systems. Under the first

objective above, we will complete the project to

manufacture these materials and demonstrate

their utility.

The objectives of this project are: 1) to provide

the final prototypes, designs, and manufacturing

plans for standard reference materials (SRMs) for

bullets and casings for use in the validation of

image analysis systems for ballistics

identification; and 2) to develop traceable

parameters for use in certifications that will

accompany SRMs for bullets and casings.

MILESTONES: To deliver: 1) A refined set of

prototype standard bullets; 2) A set of prototype

standard casings; 3) A final report presenting test

results, final designs, and manufacturing plans

for standard reference materials for bullets and

casings; and 4) An article describing the rationale

and testing results for the use of the crosscorrelation function to quantify similarities

between two-dimensional surface profiles.

Computer Database of Energetic

Materials Spectra

 Currently, forensic identification of energetic

materials (explosives and propellant

formulations) is accomplished in a variety of

ways. Typical test methods include gas

chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography

Technical Contact:

Alim Fatah

Susan Ballou

Thomas Russell

Staff-Years:

7.8 professionals

Funding Sources:

100% Other Government

Agencies

Project Champions:

• Chemical Science and

Technology Laboratory

(CSTL), Analytical

Chemistry Division

• Building and Fire Research

Laboratory (BFRL), Office

of Applied Economics

• EEEL, Electricity Division

• U.S. Army Research

Laboratory (ARL),

Aberdeen, MD

• U.S. Department of Justice

- National Domestic

Preparedness Office

(NDPO)

- Office of State and Local

Domestic Preparedness

Support (OSLDPS)

- Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI)

• University of Utah, Center

for Human Toxicology

(CHT), Salt Lake City, UT
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 21

(LC), mass spectrometry (MS), infrared (IR)

reflection spectroscopy, and IR absorption

spectroscopy, and the tandem applications of

these techniques (e.g., GC-FTIR-MS, LC-MS,

etc.). Each of these methods has its advantages

and disadvantages. Liquid chromatography

usually requires significant sample preparation

and yields limited information unless employed

in tandem with other techniques. Mass

spectrometry and gas chromatography require

some portion of the sample in the gas phase,

often requiring sample heating. For many

explosive materials this is difficult to achieve

without decomposition.

Infrared spectroscopy can be used to measure the

vibrational spectrum of nearly all energetic

materials. Raman spectroscopy is also an

excellent technique for identification and

characterization of energetic materials and

propellant formulations. Each of these

techniques can yield excellent results for many

samples. This project is aimed at expanding the

current Raman spectral database to include

spectra of energetic materials. This expansion

will include mass spectra and infrared absorption

spectra of energetic materials, and will use the

framework currently employed for the Raman

spectral database (GRAMS32). The current

Raman spectral database (Version 1.0) is

available to all law enforcement agencies as a

forensic tool for identification and

characterization of energetic materials. As with

the current version of the database, the expanded

database can be upgraded, allowing new spectra

to be entered as needed. The inclusion of mass

spectra and infrared spectra of energetic materials

will make the database even more accessible to

other investigators. The Army Research

Laboratory (ARL) at Aberdeen, Maryland, which

has extensive experience measuring mass spectra

and infrared spectra of energetic materials by

several techniques, including GC-MS, LC-MS,

solid probe MS, infrared reflectance

spectroscopy, photoacoustic spectroscopy, and

normal transmission spectroscopy, will do the

work.

MILESTONES: ARL will supply an expanded

database of spectra to include Raman spectra,

mass spectra, and infrared absorption spectra of

energetic materials, propellant ingredients, and

propellant and explosive formulations. The

expanded database will be contained within the

framework of commercial spectral manipulation

software. The database will be available to all

federal and state agencies free of charge.

Support of Domestic Preparedness

Programs

Developing Biological and Chemical Protection

Equipment Standards

The objective is to develop a suite of national

chemical and biological protective equipment

standards and to facilitate the adoption of these

standards so that they can be used by local, state,

and federal emergency first responders and other

public safety workers. To accomplish this

mission, strong working relationships must be

established with the public safety user

community, to the point where the community’s

representatives play a key and integral role in all

facets of the standards development process,

through the Interagency Board (IAB). The suite

of equipment standards will cover: 1) Detection

equipment (for both chemical and biological); 2)

Decontamination equipment; 3) Personal

protection equipment (PPE, including suits,

boots, gloves, and respiratory equipment); 4)

Interoperable communications equipment; and 5)

Medical equipment. The equipment standard that

has been identified as the first priority by the IAB

is that for respiratory equipment.

A) Respiratory Equipment Standards

The objective is to develop National Institute of

Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

approved respiratory protection equipment

against terrorism agents for emergency first

responders and public safety workers.

To develop these, the following tasks will be

performed: 1) Determine applicability of existing

industrial and military warfare agent standards;

A typical protective mask for first

responders, law enforcement officers,

corrections officers, and EMS providers.
22 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

2) Develop key chemical/biological (CB) design

and performance requirements; 3) Modify and/or

develop terrorism agent-specific test methods;

and 4) Prepare final evaluation, testing, and

certification standards.

MILESTONES: 1) Certification and testing of

equipment: After NIOSH CB respirator standards

are established, respirator equipment

manufacturers will submit approval application to

NIOSH. NIOSH will test, evaluate, and certify

candidate respirators in NIOSH laboratories or

through authorized test facilities, in support of

NIJ, U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical

Command (SBCCOM), and NIST/OLES; and 2)

Formal rulemaking on CB Standards: NIOSH will

follow established federal regulatory rule making

processes and will schedule public hearings and

open a docket for public comments on the

proposed standards. NIOSH will provide

scientific, technical, and organizational support

for these efforts as requested by NIST/OLES.

B) Hazard Analysis/Vulnerability Assessment:

Initial Hazard Assessments of Emergency

Responders in Specific Scenarios

The objective is to develop a vulnerability

assessment of responding emergency personnel

to three specific outdoor chemical hazard

scenarios. These initial studies will provide a

technical/operational baseline to determine

personal protective capabilities within a specific

operational context or scenario.

Three specific hazard scenarios will be developed

using probable chemical hazards and delivery

systems at particular outside venues. An

assessment will be made to provide a time-based

hazard distribution at specified locations

throughout the venue. Probable dose exposures

of unprotected and protected personnel wearing

both military and civilian protective clothing will

be included in this assessment.

Doses received by protected emergency

personnel will be estimated based on operations

in the hazard area. The assessment will

determine levels of hazard based on protection

factors of the protective ensemble worn and the

estimated exposures based on location, prevailing

meteorological conditions, and time.

MILESTONES: Delivery of an automated

computer-based assessment of three outdoor

scenarios, which can be used as a simple model

to determine hazards wearing specific protective

ensembles (military and civilian) within one year

of project startup date. This assessment will

include probable hazard distribution over time

and local space and an effects distribution based

on level of protection worn. Approach: This task

will be accomplished through a joint in-house and

contract effort. It will build off of existing

modeling accomplished for other domestic

preparedness related efforts accomplished by

SBCCOM. The framework for the computer

generated assessment tool is in place and the

specific scenarios from this study will be added to

expand the existing system capabilities.

C) Development of Chemical and Biological

PPE/Detection/Decontamination Equipment

Standards

The objective is to develop standards for personal

protection equipment (including suits, boots,

gloves, etc.), detection equipment, and

decontamination equipment for chemical and

biological agents for emergency first responders

and public safety workers.

SBCCOM will act in a support role to

NIST/OLES. SBCCOM’s facilities and expertise

in CB testing of PPE, detectors, and

decontamination equipment and information

regarding toxicity of CB agents will be leveraged

during this effort as well as the expertise at other

DoD laboratories to perform:

1) Hazards Analysis/Vulnerability Assessment;

2) Standards development, which involves

reviewing existing test methods, analyzing

these test methods for applicability, and

providing a matrix of prospective standards

with preliminary analysis and selection of

the appropriate standards test;

A chemical/biological protective suit
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 23

3) Testing of representative equipment to

document test procedures, developing a

certification plan, and qualifying laboratories

for CB certification testing.

MILESTONES: Complete the first draft of

respiratory equipment standards and circulate for

review and public comment. The delivery of the

complete suite of standards is expected to take

three to four years if fully funded.

D) Chemical and Biological Protection

Equipment Guides for Emergency First

Responders

The heightened national concern that terrorists

will employ chemical agents, toxic industrial

materials (TIMs), and/or biological agents

against domestic targets is prompting state and

local first responders to enhance their response

capabilities. NIJ is the focal point for providing

support to state and local law enforcement

agencies in the development of counterterrorism

technology and standards, including technology

needs for CB defense. In recognizing the needs

of state and local emergency first responders,

NIST, supported by NIJ, the Technical Support

Working Group (TSWG) of interested

government agencies, SBCCOM, and the IAB, is

developing CB defense equipment guides. The

guides will focus on CB equipment in areas of

detection, personal protection, decontamination,

medical, and communication. The purpose of

these guides is to provide CB equipment

information to the emergency first responder

community when evaluating and purchasing CB

defense equipment. This sharing of information

is critical to the many emergency first responder

communities who have received or are in the

process of receiving funding from the Office of

State and Local Domestic Preparedness

(OSLDPS).

Six chemical and biological equipment selection

guides will be developed and made available in

both paper and electronic format. The six guides

include chemical agent and toxic industrial

material detection, biological detection, medical,

communications, personal protective, and

decontamination.

To date all guides have been started, but they are

in various stages of development. The Chemical

Detection Guide was published in mid-year 2000.

A draft guide on decontamination is currently out

for review. Draft guides on medical and

biological detection are anticipated to be released

in July 2001. Draft guides on personal protection

and communications equipment are anticipated to

be released in August 2001.

MILESTONES: 1) Delivery of drafts and final

versions of each guide; 2) Delivery of printed

guides and CD-ROM versions of the guides by

end of July 2001.

Less-than-Lethal Technologies:

Examination of Pepper Spray Canisters

At the present time, the “pepper spray”

commercial products on the market are not well

defined. There is no specification of active

ingredients and manufacturers use a wide range

of formulations and labeling schemes.

OLES is planning to solicit, through a

competitive contract, a qualified laboratory to

perform research and conduct a study involving

sampling and analyzing the contents of

commercial pepper spray canisters from five

different manufacturers. This laboratory will

make quantitative measurements of the internal

pressure of the canister, the concentration of

active agent(s) capsaicin and the compounds

present in the aerosol spray, and the

concentration of propellants and carriers. The

study will also include shelf-life stability studies

of the canisters (devices) at specified

environments, aerosol firing tests, spray range

tests, and drop tests to gauge device mechanical

safety and stability. It is hoped that data from

this type of study will suggest improvements and

serve as the basis for minimum voluntary

labeling and performance standards.

The project will examine a number of canisters

from particular lots and manufacturers that have

been used (as well as unused cans from the same

lots) by measuring propellant pressure, oleoresin

capsicum (OC) concentration, and other

properties of the canister that correlate with the

reason for the failure. NIJ Standard–0110.00,

which deals with testing hand-held aerosol tear

gas weapons, will be used as a guide in

measuring the spray pattern of canisters.

MILESTONES: The delivery of quarterly

progress reports and the final report on project

results of the study by the end of 12 months

from the date of contract award.

Less-than-Lethal Technologies (LTL):

Human and Animal Dose Response,

Toxicokinetic and Potency Assessment

of Pepper Spray Products Following

Topical and Aerosolized Exposure

The objectives of this three-year proposal are to:

1) Chemically characterize a series of LTL OC
24 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

pepper spray products as a method of

determining, and ultimately predicting, product

potency; 2) Apply the products and the individual

capsaicins identified in the products to human

skin to determine response and potency; 3)

Investigate the toxicological effects of inhalation

of the same products; and 4) Determine the

extent of absorption and the distribution of these

analogs following dermal and nasal exposure.

Nasal exposure will be to drug-free and drugtreated rats.

The data generated will be utilized to: 1) Predict

product potency by chemical analysis, dermal

response, or a combination of the two methods;

2) Determine the relative potency of the

individual capsaicin analogs; 3) Determine and

quantify the effects of the products and the

individual capsaicins when applied dermally; 4)

Develop sensitive and specific analytical methods

that can be used to identify and quantify

capsaicin analogs in pepper spray products and in

biological samples; 5) Determine the extent of

dermal absorption of the major capsaicin analogs;

and 6) Determine toxicity and the extent of nasal

absorption of the major capsaicin analogs

following aerosolized exposure, and determine if

stimulant drug use affects toxicity or absorption.

MILESTONES: 1) Chemically characterize the

OC content of a select series of pepper spray

products; 2) Verify that a combination of potency

determinations by pharmacodynamic methods

and capsaicin analog determination by HPLC and

HPLC/MS/MS can be used to assess the

potency/efficacy of commercially available OC

LTL products; and 3) Determine the relative

respiratory tract toxicity of pepper sprays

following aerosolized exposure to the chemically

characterized pepper spray products.

Minimizing Compliance Costs of the

Life Safety Code for Correctional

Facilities

The Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES) for

Detention and Correctional Facilities (Chapter 4

of the NFPA 101A Guide to Alternative

Approaches to Life Safety) offers the managers

and fire safety engineers of such facilities many

alternatives equivalent to prescriptive code

compliance. This flexibility makes possible

major cost savings when achieving compliance

with the Life Safety Code. Because so many

acceptable solutions are available, the most costeffective solutions cannot be found by simple

trial and error. What is needed is a systematic

procedure for finding a practical set of low-cost,

safety-equivalent solutions from which the

facility manager can choose. The NIST Office of

Applied Economics has successfully developed a

similar procedure and supporting software for

Health Care Occupancies. The Public Health

Service has applied this software to 86 military

hospitals and identified code-compliant solutions

with cost savings of over 40 % (about $2,200 per

bed) compared with the prescriptive solution.

MILESTONES: Develop the life-cycle cost

model for design alternatives. Obtain all cost data

and develop the algorithms necessary to estimate

the life-cycle cost of qualifying for each of the 56

states of the fire safety parameter table of NFPA

101A. Complete the cost minimization model and

supporting algorithms capable of systematically

evaluating the costs of all safety-equivalent

alternatives to identify quickly the least-cost

alternative for any correctional facility. Design

and develop software for easy user specification

of the current safety conditions for each of the

13 fire safety parameters and for the quantities

of each construction retrofit to be considered for

evaluation by the cost minimization model and

algorithms. Design and develop software

modules to apply the cost minimization model

and supporting algorithms to identify the leastcost alternative for any correctional facility.

Accomplishments

! NIJ Guide 100–00, “Guide for the Selection

of Chemical Agent and Toxic Industrial Material

Detection Equipment for Emergency First

Responders" was published. This Guide contains

detailed information that is useful to the

emergency first responder community in the

selection of chemical agent and toxic industrial

materials detection techniques and equipment for

different applications. It includes a through

market survey of these technologies.

Publications

NIJ Report 603–00, “Development of NIST Standard Bullets

and Casings Status Report,” submitted to NIJ for publication.

NIJ Report 601–00, “NIST Random Profile Roughness

Specimens and Standard Bullets,” July 2000.

NIJ Guide 100–00, “Guide for the Selection of Chemical

Agent and Toxic Industrial Material Detection Equipment for

Emergency First Responders,” June 2000.

NIJ Guide 100–99, “Guide for the Selection of Commercial

Explosives Detection Systems for Law Enforcement

Applications,” March 1999.

NIJ Report 100–99, “Evaluation of a Test Protocol for

Explosives Trace Detectors Using a Representative

Commercial Analyzer,” September 1999.

NIJ Guide 601–00, “Guide for the Selection of Drug

Detectors for Law Enforcement Applications,” August 2000.

NIJ Report 602–00, "Trace Detection of Narcotics Using a

Preconcentrator/Ion Mobility Spectrometer System,” WERB

approved.
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 25

Forensic Sciences

Project Goals

To manage forensic science programs and direct

research efforts to develop performance

standards, guidelines, and reports to advance the

technologies associated with the forensic science

field. To provide innovative and validated test

methods that will successfully undergo the

scrutiny of our adversarial justice system.

Technical Strategy

The National Software Reference

Library

Forensic analysts work to balance the stress of

increasing case backlogs and maintaining quality

in the examination of the evidence. In the

forensic discipline of electronic evidence, a

possible solution to reducing case backlog is

being developed. The basic concept of this

solution is the creation of a standard reference

material (SRM) of all commercial off-the-shelf

software packages and, through their hashing

algorithms, create a file signature for each

package. This information would then be

downloaded into a searchable database. The

National Software Reference Library (NSRL) is

such a database and has been designed to provide

a repository of known software, file profiles, and

file signatures for use by law enforcement

organizations in electronic forensic

investigations. In a typical case, a seized desktop

computer may contain 5000 to 20000 files, each

of which must be reviewed for evidentiary

content. To eliminate as many standard files as

possible, an automated filter program can screen

each file for specific profile and signatures. If

the file profile and signature match a verified

profile and signature in the NSRL, the file will be

dropped and no further analysis will be

conducted. Those remaining files that did not

match signatures in the NSRL will then be

subjected to detailed examination.

This project has been conducted in the

Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) at

NIST and supported by NIJ grants and FBI tools.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, to produce an

extractable NSRL CD-ROM that will be made

available to law enforcement agencies and to

implement a NSRL Web site to support the use of

the CD-ROM.

Establishment of a Computer Forensic

Tool Verification Capability at

NIST/Validation of Computer Software

Tools

It is critical during court testimony to have

validated tools or standardized procedures

supporting the submitted evidence. In the law

enforcement community, the validation of

electronic tools and procedures has not yet been

addressed. ITL was seen as a neutral party in the

area of commercial products and was tasked to

verify the operation and output of automated

tools used in electronic investigations. At the

current time, tools commonly used by law

enforcement investigators fall into one of three

categories: disk-imaging products, write

blockers, and selected suites. Further

classifications will develop as tools are added to

the verification list. A framework for performing

tests on each category has been evaluated and the

disk imaging products will be the first area tested.

The common characteristics of each classification

are decomposed into testable requirements.

Assertions are derived from these requirements

along with assertions from specific capabilities of

individual tools. Each assertion is then tested

within the overall testing framework to produce

results that are repeatable and objectively

measurable.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, to continue the

refinement of testing programs for the validation

process. Publish the hard-disk-locking test report

and to plan and publish the Automated Computer

Examination System (ACES) test.

Development of Best Practices for

Electronic-Crime Investigation

The fast paced world of electronic technology has

shown that many law enforcement agencies have

inadequate resources to address electronic crime.

As developments in technology improve, it is

imperative that resources are provided to law

enforcement individuals in an effort to increase

their knowledge, skills, and abilities regarding

electronic crime. To address these issues, NIJ

through OLES has promoted the preparation and

the dissemination of best practices guidelines for

conducting electronic-crime investigations. In

developing the best practices, OLES will enlist

the support of expert practitioners from all levels

of the criminal justice community, including

crime lab analysts, field investigators, and

litigation experts. A series of pocket-sized best

practices booklets will be produced that,

collectively, cover topical areas that range from

Technical Contact:

Sue Ballou

Alim Fatah

Staff-Years:

13.5 Professionals

Funding Sources:

100% Other Government

Agencies

Project Champions:

• Building and Fire Research

Laboratory (BFRL), Fire

Safety Engineering Division

• Chemical Science and

Technology Laboratory

(CSTL):

- Biotechnology Division

- Analytical Chemistry

Division

• Department of Defense

(DoD), Computer Forensics

Laboratory

• Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI)

• Information Technology

Laboratory (ITL), Software

Diagnostics and

Conformance Testing

Division

• Institute for Social Analysis

(ISA), Alexandria, VA

• Manufacturing Engineering

Laboratory (MEL), Precision

Engineering Division

• Materials Sciences and

Engineering Laboratory

(MSEL), Ceramics Division

• National Cybercrime

Training Partnership

(NCTP), under the

Computer Crimes and

Intellectual Property

Section of DOJ

• Royal Canadian Mounted

Police (RMCP), Forensic

Laboratory, Ottawa,

Canada

• TASC, Inc., Arlington, VA

• University of Utah, Center

for Human Toxicology

(CHT), Salt Lake City, UT

• U.S. Secret Service (USSS),

Washington, DC
26 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

management awareness to courtroom

presentations. The topics identified for

incorporation into a series of separate booklets

are as follows:

• Managing Technology in Law Enforcement.

• Crime Scene Investigation: Identification,

Collection, Preservation, Transfer, and

Storage.

• Analysis of Computer Evidence.

• Investigative Use of Technology.

• Investigating Technology Crimes.

• How to Set Up a Digital Evidence

Laboratory.

• Courtroom Presentations of Digital

Evidence.

The booklet addressing crime-scene investigation

was initiated in 1999 and has been targeted for

completion by the end of the year 2000. The

National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS),

also with NIJ support, has taken responsibility to

manage the planning panel for the booklet “How

to Set Up a Digital Evidence Laboratory,”

leaving five booklet topics to be addressed.

For each booklet, a planning panel will be formed

consisting of approximately 12 to 18 experts with

various backgrounds in electronic evidence. The

planning panel will convene to define the scope

and content of the booklet, and to prepare a draft

outline for the booklet. The planning panels will

also assist OLES in identifying appropriate

criminal justice and electronic-crime experts that

will serve on a technical working group (TWG)

to be formed for each of the individual best

practices booklets. TWGs will consist of about

50 to 70 expert persons. Each TWG will develop

a first draft booklet and edit each successive

draft.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, to submit the

Electronic Crime Scene Investigation draft for

publication and to initiate two additional planning

panels to develop and draft guideline booklets on

the next selected topics.

Burn Pattern Recognition Program

Previous research has shown that fire patterns

provide data useful for the determination of the

origin of fires. Due to the large number of

factors that affect the formation of these patterns,

the Burn Pattern Recognition Program has sought

to understand fire pattern formation from

ignitable liquid spills and their interaction with

surrounding structure components.

Past work provided insight into variables

affecting burn patterns and the effects of imposed

radiant heat flux on fire patterns in regard to

controlled tests. This information has shown that

some traditionally used indicators, or burn

patterns, may erroneously imply that flammable

liquid accelerants were used in a fire. The

conclusions from these experiments are contained

in NIJ Report 601–97, “Full Scale Room Burn

Pattern Study.” One conclusion is that the

formation of burn patterns are highly dependent

on ventilation conditions, and the study would

benefit from tightly controlled experimental

conditions.

To continue evaluating burn patterns, further

research will dwell on the position of the gasoline

spill. The spill will be moved from the center of

the room to locations near the walls and corners.

As resources allow, various floor coverings will

be investigated and the affect of furniture or the

absence of it will also be addressed.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, the new fire pattern

experiments with flammable spills at locations

near walls and corners will be completed and a

technical report will be compiled for publication.

Establishment of NIST/NIJ Forensic

Analysis Fellowship

Forensic science requires an increasing amount

of technical sophistication. However, support for

the post-baccalaureate education of forensic

scientists is woefully inadequate. In the U.S.,

there are currently only seven universities

offering Master’s degree programs and only one

recently established Forensic Science Ph.D.

program. Most forensic practitioners with

advanced degrees have crossed-over from allied

fields such as the sciences or engineering, and

have achieved their knowledge of forensic

science via “on-the-job” training.

The lack of support for graduate students

pursuing a degree in forensic science is a serious

impediment to expanding advanced degree

program enrollment in forensic sciences.

Traditional funding sources, such as the National

Science Foundation, generally sponsor more

basic scientific research at Ph.D. and postdoctoral levels. This leaves forensic science

faculty and students little opportunity for

research funding.

In its role as the primary national resource for

criminology and jurisprudence, the NIJ is the

most appropriate locus for an effort to improve

the quality of forensic scientists via advanced

educational opportunity. Of particular

importance is the ongoing NIJ program to assess
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 27

and meet the advanced technology needs of the

forensic community. Through this activity, NIJ

is uniquely suited to prioritizing the research

advances required to meet national needs.

OLES/NIST also brings a unique and

advantageous perspective to the effort for

improving the quality of forensic measurements.

As the needs for technical accuracy and quality

of forensic measurements continue to advance,

NIST is uniquely suited to help meet those needs.

Our well recognized technical competence is

combined with our neutral status to build a

powerful and influential effort to advance

forensic measurement research.

During the past years, participants in the summer

fellowship program have been selected from the

Master of Forensic Sciences curriculum of the

George Washington University. The selected

summer topics originated from the NIST

Analytical Chemistry Division. Selected topics

were research on the detection and measurement

of organic compounds in handgun and explosives

residues and the evaluation of factors that control

the retention of gunshot residues on the shooter’s

body. To further detail the research on residue

retention factors, a series of handgun test firings

were performed under a number of scientifically

controlled conditions. The effect of sweat, oil,

and static on the retention of residues on the

shooting hand was evaluated. Optical and

chemical analyses were used to evaluate residue

retention.

In future years, we envision this program

growing to support a limited number of student

interns at NIST or other federal forensic

agencies, or student researchers at universities

with forensic science degree programs. Priorities

for research support will follow the national

forensic science needs determined by NIJ.

Proposals from all major universities with

forensic science degree programs will be

solicited. Evaluation of proposals will be based

on quality, alignment with NIJ forensic research

priorities, and by student qualification as

determined by NIST/OLES staff and will include

at least one independent review.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, to propose a

partnership between NIJ and NIST/OLES to

establish a NIST/NIJ Forensic Analysis Fellowship

as one mechanism to advance the skills of the

next generation of forensic scientists.

Gunpowder and Handgun Residue

Research

To utilize current experience with issues

regarding gunpowder residue, OLES is funding

work through the Analytical Chemistry Division

of the Chemical Sciences and Technology

Laboratory (CSTL) at NIST. The purpose of this

research is to examine the compositional

characteristics of gunpowder and its post-firing

residues as a means of detecting handgun use and

investigating crimes involving pipe bombs.

Quantitative determination of the propellant

(nitroglycerin-NG) and stabilizer

(diphenylamine-DPA and ethyl centralite-EC)

components in smokeless gunpowder is being

investigated as a means of associating evidentiary

residue and gunpowder samples with unfired

powder exemplars. Current gunshot residue

methods (based on the detection of the metallic

primer particles: barium, antimony, and lead and

using such techniques as Scanning Electron

Microscopy/Energy Dispersive x-ray analysis),

are costly to perform and seldom successful at

determining handgun use.

A detailed firing range experiment was

performed to evaluate seven boxes of commercial

ammunition. 38-caliber ammunition was fired

with a revolver, and the muzzle exit residues

were collected. Unfired cartridges were retained

for compositional comparison to the collected

residues and to each other. Based on the

qualitative identification of the additives present

and determination of the propellant to stabilizer

(P/S) ratio, powder samples from four of the

seven boxes of ammunition could be easily

differentiated. The remaining three boxes had

the same additives in roughly similar proportions.

Valuation of the P/S ratio could only partially

differentiate these powders. If the physical

morphology of the powders was also considered,

powder samples from all seven boxes of

ammunition could be correctly identified.

MILESTONES: Long-term goal is the

development of an integrated approach to

organic gunshot/explosives residue evaluation

with effective sample collection, optimized

analytical measurements, and rigorous

graphical/statistical evaluation of the data.

Manuscript has been presented to the Journal of

Forensic Sciences for publication.
28 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Evaluation of Saliva as an Alternate

Drug Testing Specimen

Recent studies have shown that nearly two out of

three of all suspects arrested for crimes admit to

drug use and one out of three admit to use during

the crime. Likewise, nearly two out of three

drivers involved in fatal highway accidents test

positive for drugs or alcohol. As a result, the

American public has become considerably more

sensitized to drug and alcohol abuse and has

emphasized the need to evaluate the effects of

drugs and alcohol on public safety and the

environment. Therefore, the ability to rapidly

determine drug concentrations is needed by the

law enforcement community to support criminal

and civil investigations.

The current methodology for analysis of drugs

involves the use of blood, plasma, or urine as

samples. However, obtaining these samples is

either invasive or they can be adulterated. Saliva,

on the other hand, can be obtained nonintrusively, allows protection of privacy, reduces

the possibility of adulteration, and has the

potential for estimating the actual circulating

concentrations of drugs. Little is known about

the mechanisms through which drugs are actually

transferred from the blood into saliva. Therefore,

an understanding of these mechanisms must be

obtained to estimate the extent and rate of

transport of the drugs into the saliva.

Saliva specimens from subjects will be collected

by “spitting” into inert polyethylene tubes

without stimulating saliva production.

It is known that drug disposition into saliva is

affected by pH and collection techniques.

Therefore, four additional common collection

techniques/devices will be evaluated in the

controlled clinical studies. These include: (1)

citric acid (hard candy) used to stimulate saliva

production; and (2) non-acid stimulation of saliva

production (chewing on Teflon, rubber band,

etc.). Two additional commercial collection

devices will be chosen for evaluation.

To be useful as a testing specimen, a rapid drug

screening method is needed for the matrix. This

is a potential problem with saliva since the parent

drug is often detected, whereas commercial

immunoassay tests generally target urinary drug

metabolites.

In order to evaluate the need for hydrolysis of

codeine and morphine conjugates to improving

the detection in saliva samples, glucuronide

metabolites of codeine and morphine in saliva

will be analyzed. A LC/MS/MS method for

determining morphine and morphine glucuronide

metabolites using solid phase extraction has

already been validated and can easily be adapted

for the detection of codeine and codeine

glucuronide.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, to complete the

analysis of all saliva, hair, plasma, and urine

samples collected. Special emphasis will be

placed on the relationships between dose and

specimen concentration.

Use of Enantiomeric Composition to

Study Incorporation of Drugs into Hair

The analysis of hair for drugs of abuse can

provide a number of advantages when compared

to the analysis of urine or other biological fluids.

Hair provides a view of drug use over a greater

period of time and is more difficult to evade than

urinalysis. Several issues have slowed the

acceptance of hair analysis, including a lack of

understanding of mechanisms for drug

incorporation, a lack of reference materials, and

the possibility of false positives arising from

passive (environmental) exposure.

Amphetamine and methamphetamine are

commonly abused stimulants that can be

prepared through a variety of synthetic pathways.

Both compounds have been detected in hair

samples of drug users. Because amphetamine

and methamphetamine are chiral molecules, they

can exist as pairs of enantiomers. The (R)-

enantiomer of methamphetamine is found in

legitimate pharmaceutical products, but

clandestine synthesis often produces racemic

amphetamine and methamphetamine.

Metabolism of methamphetamine produces

amphetamine, and stereoselective metabolism of

both compounds has been reported. Therefore,

proof of illicit use of these stimulants requires an

examination of enantiomeric composition of the

compound of interest. Current analytical

methods for the measurement of enantiomers of

these stimulants typically involve derivatization

with enantiomerically pure derivatizing agents to

form diastereomers that are separated by gas

chromatography (GC). However, most chiral

derivatizing agents are not enantiomerically pure,

and impure reagents may perturb the initial

enantiomeric composition of the sample, leading

to erroneous or misleading results. Analytical

methodology that does not require chiral

derivatizing agents would likely improve the

reliability of enantiomeric measurements. In

addition, the availability of standards of known

enantiomeric composition of
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 29

amphetamine/methamphetamine would aid

validation of analytical techniques for

measurement of amphetamine and

methamphetamine in hair samples.

Currently, the derivatization scheme has been

evaluated on standard solutions and seems to

provide adequate sensitivity for the levels of

amphetamine and methamphetamine likely to be

found in hair. The separations between the

enantiomers of both dugs have been achieved

using liquid chromatography in conjunction with

a chiral stationary phase. The long-term goal will

be the development of a standard reference

material for hair analysis.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, to apply the

developed methodology to the detection of

amphetamine and methamphetamine in hair.

Innovative Sweat-Based Drug Testing

Technology Development

The current methodology for analysis of drugs

involves the use of blood, plasma, or urine as

samples. However, obtaining these samples is

either invasive, or they can be adulterated. In

addition, their matrices are relatively complex

thus requiring more intensive and timeconsuming sample preparation and/or

determination. Sweat, on the other hand, can be

obtained non-intrusively, allows protection of

privacy, reduces the possibility of adulteration,

and has the potential for estimating the actual

circulating concentration of drugs. In addition,

sweat is less complex and more easily prepared

for analysis. This proposal focuses on the

development of sweat-based drug testing

techniques.

The objectives of the research project are to:

• Test the current commercially available

equipment for use as sweat collection

devices for adult subjects and modify them

as needed to improve both performance and

reliability of the devices.

• Adapt assay test kits for use in testing liquid

perspiration.

• Assess the validity and utility of the liquid

perspiration collection technique as a

method for testing criminal populations.

The research will be performed over a period of

three years. During the first year, a thorough

literature review will be conducted specially

targeting non-invasive techniques for collecting

and testing sweat. Experts in the field will be

contacted and consulted to select the most

promising devices as well as to identify

laboratory-based screening methods. Available

liquid-perspiration collection devices will be

examined and reviewed. The investigators will

work closely with manufacturers of such devices

to improve and modify, as necessary, for use in

criminal justice populations. Pilot tests of

selected devices will be conducted. The results

of this first stage will be analyzed and

documented in an interim report.

MILESTONES: Liquid perspiration devices will

be tested and modified; and immunoassay

screening methods will be evaluated.

Update of NBS Special Publication 480–

17—Auto Headlight Glass Visible

Features of Forensic Utility

The objective of this project is to develop a

database of headlight characteristics that are

current and usable for identifying headlights

installed in the “Top-Selling Models” of current

production passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. A

1978 special publication contained information

that assisted investigators trying to identify

vehicles from the fragments of headlights that

were left at the scene of hit-and-run crimes. The

present market and application of headlights in

vehicles is larger; and a significant fraction of

headlights is made in other countries. There are

also additional complexities involving materials

and design. Today’s headlights are made of

glass, plastic, or glass-plastic hybrids, for

application in passenger cars and trucks [sport

utility vehicles (SUVs), minivans, vans, and light

trucks]. The headlights’ purchasing and

referencing system is very intricate.

The first priority is to collect and evaluate

information for the development of a database on

automotive headlights for forensic use. The

database will include the identification and visual

characteristics of headlights, such as patterns and

markings of sealed-beam and plastic headlights

installed in “Year 2001 Top-Selling Models”

sold in the U.S. Further work will evolve around

technical collaborations and developing essential

key contacts with automakers, headlight suppliers

and forensic examiners to identify auto headlight

issues.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, collect and evaluate

data for the development of a database of

automobile headlights. Identify database

structure, design, and applicable software.

Establish technical collaborations to perform

photography of headlight features and to carry

out characterization studies.
30 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Research in Deoxyribonucleic acid

(DNA) Identification Methods and

Standards

The Biotechnology Division of the CSTL at

NIST has been the lead organization for DNA

research for NIJ. At this time, five forensic

projects targeting different aspects of DNA have

received funding from NIJ and each is described

below:

A Standard Reference Material for PCR-Based

Profiling Standard

The Biotechnology Division has already

developed SRM 2390 for use in calibrating DNA

tests based on the restriction fragment length

polymorphism (RFLP) method. However, with

the change in technology and the burst of growth

into the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) field,

another SRM (SRM 2391) was developed for

tests based on the PCR method. These SRMs

have contributed immeasurably to the current

accuracy of DNA measurements and the ability

of laboratories to successfully defend the

measurements in court. A major objective of

this project is to provide fundamental research

and development on all aspects of current DNA

forensic testing with the goal of providing NIST

traceability to all U.S. crime laboratory

measurements on DNA for human identification.

The large demand from the forensic science

community for SRM 2391 has required revisions

in the quantity produced and mandated

continuous subsequent lot numbers.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, initiate

manufacturing of the next SRM lot number to

allow production completion prior to the

depletion of the current SRM 2391a stock.

DNA Mixed-Stain Study 3 (NMSS3)

Laboratories utilizing multiplex kits for DNA

analysis have found multiple-source DNA

samples difficult to interpret. Various

interactions between similar loci in a mixed run

produce results that require astute interpretation

and experience in the recognition of these

situations. Variants present within the DNA

molecule also add another source for difficulty in

interpretation, yet when correctly recognized can

provide a unique sample identifier. Laboratories

should have a listing of identified variants,

additive DNA effects, and amplification variables

that may be encountered during the performance

of short tandem repeat (STR) multiplex kits. A

round-robin study designed to address a current

number of these issues has been initiated between

several volunteer forensic laboratories. Two sets

of predominantly binary mixtures of extracts of

DNA will be prepared at concentration ratios

other than just 1:1. For the second set, all

participants will be requested to quantify and

type the DNA sources.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, prepare peerreviewed manuscript or presentations to

disseminate information.

Quantification of Human DNA

 As STR multiplexes have increased in the

number of genetic loci analyzed in one

amplification, the need for controlling the input

amount of DNA has increased. The results of the

NIST Mixed Stain Study 2 indicated that there

was a range of DNA concentration estimates that

was on average 1.8. The DNA quantitation

methods used were primarily two commercial

kits as well as a few “in-house” methods. There

was no clear measurement performance

difference among the methods used. NIST is

presently identifying sources of high quality and

large quantity of human DNA and continuing to

develop several scenarios to test federal, state,

and local crime laboratories for their ability to

accurately quantify nanogram to sub-nanogram

levels of DNA.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, distribute evaluated

materials to targeted laboratories and complete

characterization of results.

Results from electrophoresis analysis

of DNA sample.
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 313

Substrate Stability Studies for Convicted

Offender Samples

Crime laboratories must maintain crime scene

biological fluids and known blood samples at

optimum conditions pending future analysis

requests by investigative, prosecutorial, or

defense personnel. The length of time a

laboratory must accommodate these requests

varies from state to state. Some states, such as

California, have determined all samples must be

retained indefinitely. In addition, the

implementation of the federal database system,

the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), has

increased the storage requirement for known

blood samples. To cope with the increasing

number of CODIS samples and crime-scene

samples, crime laboratories must re-evaluate

storage protocol. In 1994, a 10-year research

study was initiated at NIST to determine the

effects of temperature and substrate conditions on

the quality of DNA in dried bloodstains. This

study is comprehensive and will address issues

absent in other published validation studies of

this nature.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, prepare peerreviewed manuscript or conduct presentations to

disseminate information.

Human Mitochondrial DNA Research for

Forensic Needs

Human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is used by

the forensic community for human identification,

especially when the nuclear DNA is non-existent,

degraded, or available in limited amounts. There

are at least two main problems that investigators

face when using mtDNA for human

identification. First, laboratories need to ensure

that their amplification and sequencing

techniques are providing them with the correct

results. NIST recently completed a human

mtDNA sequencing Standard Reference Material

(SRM 2392) for validation of mitochondrial

sequencing procedures. The use of SRM 2392

provides an established basis by which to

evaluate generated results from known and

questioned evidentiary samples. Second, the

mitochondrial DNA from an individual can be

heteroplasmic; that is, the DNA within a single

cell can differ at one or more base pairs. There

are several options where these differences can

exist within the human body. Heteroplasmy is a

problem for forensic investigators since a sample

from a crime scene can differ from a sample from

a suspect by one base pair and this difference

may be interpreted as sufficient evidence to

eliminate that individual as the suspect. The

NIST laboratory has shown that hair samples

from a single individual can contain a

hereoplasmy at vastly different concentrations

and even the root and shaft of a single hair can

differ.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, attempt to develop a

human heteroplasmic mitochondrial DNA

standard reference material for the detection of

heteroplasmy and low frequency mutations.

On-Line Chemical Analysis of Human

Hair Samples

Hair samples collected in connection with a

crime are typically characterized for their

morphology by microscopic techniques. These

microscopic comparisons can only detail the

strength or weakness of a “match” between a

known and questioned hair. On occasions when

the hair sample contains a root, genetic material

can be extracted and characterized using PCRbased technology. Mitochondrial profiling is

becoming the preferred DNA methodology for

hair examinations due to its stability and presence

even in the hair shaft. However, these techniques

require specialized laboratory equipment,

designated room allocations, and extensive

laboratory analysis. In an effort to provide a

simpler but still definitive method for hair

characterization, NIST is evaluating a technique

that will provide a statistical accounting of

distinguishing features present in hair.

NIST has developed a method for determining

the extractable components from hair using an

on-line supercritical-fluid extraction-gas

chromatography/mass spectrometric (SFEGC/MS) technique. This technique allows for all

of the organic extractable material from a small

hair sample (30 g to 100 g, typically a single

segment) to be introduced into the analytical

system, compared with only a few percent of the

total from a conventional liquid solvent extract.

The added sensitivity of the on-line technique (50

to 100 times the conventional extraction

technique) enables full-scan mass spectra to be

obtained from any peak detected in the extract,

aiding in any confirmatory identification of the

component. A preliminary study suggests that

hair from different individuals yields different

chemical profiles, the sources of which include

naturally deposited components (from sebaceous

and sweat glands), artificially deposited species

(from conditioners and treatment), and

environmental contaminants (e.g., occupational

exposure). To demonstrate the effect of
32 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

prolonged storage of physical evidence from a

crime scene, hair samples have been retained at

room temperature for a three-year period. These

samples will be periodically removed and

analyzed, comparing the results of analysis to

two different groups: to chemical profiles

obtained in the hair sample prior to storage, and

to freshly removed hair samples from the same

individuals.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, provide a laboratory

procedure for the forensic science community

that will provide statistical analysis of human

non-DNA hair characteristics.

Development of an International

Automotive Paint Database

The objective of this project is to develop an

International Automotive Paint database, which

has forensic science applications to both

insurance and law enforcement investigations.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

automotive paint database has, through a

partnership with the FBI, become an important

forensic trace evidence tool in North America. A

Cooperative Agreement for Research and

Development (CARD) between the RCMP and

the FBI and funded by OLES has provided the

resources needed to develop the database over a

five-year period. The goals include: keeping

Paint Data Queries (PDQ) current with the

production year for the North American

automotive industry, and training all North

American law enforcement agencies in the use of

the database. As it grows, PDQ will enable:

• Examiners to potentially identify make,

model, and year of vehicles used in the

commission of a crime or involved in a hit

and run fatality.

• Examiners to develop court testimony to

provide the court with alternatives to an

"either/or" type conclusion. ("It is either the

suspect vehicle or vehicles X as determined

by PDQ.")

• Paint analysts to be on the cutting edge of

automotive paint technology (PDQ as a

learning tool).

MILESTONES: In FY2001, continue to add new

samples to the PDQ making the database

internationally viable, and make programming

improvements to individualize submissions from

each state laboratory so that queries to the

database could be customized and thus carry

more investigative and judicial impact.

DNA Mass Spectrometry and Multiplex

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism/Short

Tandem Repeats (SNP/STR) Research

Convicted offender blood samples are collected

on a daily basis and stored throughout the United

States’ crime laboratories waiting for DNA

analysis. To cope with the increasing backlog, a

faster method of analysis is required. The timeof-flight mass spectrometry can address the

backlog issue by eliminating manual sample

preparation at the pre- and post-amplification

steps and increasing the speed of analysis. The

improved PCR assay should increase the number

of markers that can be tested in a single

amplification, thereby providing another means

for the reduction in examiner preparation and

analysis time.

Mixed crime scene samples have proven time

consuming in a forensic laboratory, requiring

additional extraction steps and a stringent

interpretation protocol. The Y chromosome

markers are targeted to offer new loci on the Y

chromosome and mitochondrial DNA for

potential use in improved separation of male-tomale fractions and to eliminate female cellular

contamination. These steps would simplify the

determination of multiple contributors to a body

fluid sample.

The work accomplished on these projects in

FY2000 was fast paced. The incorporation of the

MWG Biotech RoboAmp 4200 sample

preparation robot with the Bruker BIFLEX III

Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer was

completed. This combination was utilized to

characterize and validate forensic multiplex STR

kits. To accompany this work, development of a

suite of Visual Basic computer programs to assist

multiplex PCR primer design was also initiated.

Several new Y STR multiplex sets have been

started to aid characterization of a future Y

chromosome SRM.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, conduct an interlaboratory evaluation of the multiplex STR results

from commercial kits and continue

characterization and quality control work on

these kits. Conduct an evaluation of various

methods for measurement of single nucleotide

polymorphisms (SNPs) using mass spectrometry

and evaluate approximately 20 Y SNP markers

using an optimal mass spectrometric method.

Revision of ASCLD/LAB Accreditation

Manual to Conform with ISO Guidelines

The American Society of Crime Laboratory

Directors/ Laboratory Accreditation Board

(ASCLD/LAB) operates an accreditation
Office of Law Enforcement Standar 33

program for crime laboratories with members

consisting of 139 domestic and 14 foreign

laboratories. The board administers this program

on a minimal budget from member dues and has

only one part-time paid employee. The program

has become a source of laboratory accreditation

to meet federal and judicial requirements. The

current criteria and the accreditation program

procedures were prepared by the members of

ASCLD/LAB based on their professional

knowledge and experience in crime laboratory

operations. However, several international

organizations have prepared generic criteria for

competence of laboratory operations and for

operating accreditation programs to measure

laboratory competence. The International

Organization of Standardization (ISO) has

prepared ISO Guide 25 General Requirements for

the Competence of Calibration and Testing

Laboratories and ISO Guide 58 General

Requirements for Operation and Recognition of

Calibration and Testing Laboratory Accreditation

Programs. To maintain the highest level of

criteria and to adopt a single international

standard for measurement of laboratory

competence, it is imperative that ASCLD/LAB

considers conformation to the ISO guidelines.

The objective of this effort is to improve the

quality of laboratory services provided to the

criminal justice system by revising the policies

and procedures of the board of the ASCLD/LAB

to meet applicable international standards.

MILESTONES: In FY2001, review the

suggested revisions to the current ASCLD/LAB

Accreditation Manual and recommend changes to

the bylaws of ASCLD/LAB so that they conform to

the criteria in ISO Guides 25 and 58.

Accomplishments

! Maintenance of a short tandem repeat DNA

database commonly referred to as STRBase

(http://www.cstl.nist.gov/biotech/strbase). The

STRBase has provided a venue for the collection

of variant alleles, multiplex STR kit schematics,

and downloadable PowerPoint presentations.

More than 1300 publications on the use of STRs

for DNA typing, including over 150 regarding Ychromosome markers, have been catalogued

within the STRBase. This database is a quick

and impressive source of STR information.

Publications

NIJ Report 600–98, “Forensic Sciences: Status and Needs,”

February 1999.

 “Survey Tool for the Measurement of Workload in Crime

Laboratories,” January 1999.

NIJ Report 600–99, “Trace Evidence Analysis of Human Hair

by On-Line Supercritical Fluid Extraction—Gas

Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry: A Feasibility Study,”

December 1999.

 “Correlation of Saliva Codeine Concentrations with Plasma

Concentrations,” Journal of Analytical Toxicology, Vol. 23,

October 1999.

“Associating Gunpowder and Residues from Commercial

Ammunition Using Compositional Analysis with the

Propellant to Stabilizer Ration (P/S),” accepted for

publication in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

NIJ Report 604–00, “Flammable and Combustible Liquid

Spill/Burn Patterns,” submitted for publication.

“Validation of Twelve Chemical Spot Tests for Detection of

Drugs of Abuse,” submitted for publication.

NIJ Standard–0604.01, “Color Test Reagents for Preliminary

Identification of Drugs of Abuse,” July 2000.

ds
34 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

Public Safety

Communication

Standards

Project Goals

The primary objective of this project is to lead

the development of wireless telecommunications

and information technology standards, profiles,

and guidelines for interoperability, and

information sharing, among criminal justice (CJ)

and public safety (PS) agencies at state, local,

and federal levels. To achieve this it will be

necessary to focus on enabling technologies and

open architecture standards so that

interoperability approaches can be designed and

implemented. Proposed techniques and

standardized configurations will be verified and

validated through simulations and laboratory

testing.

While standards are being developed, other

interim interoperability solutions will be

investigated. As a secondary goal, this project

will conduct technical evaluations of current and

emerging technologies aimed at providing

immediate assistance to CJ and PS agencies.

Customer Needs

Law enforcement work requires effective

coordination, communication, and sharing of

information with numerous criminal justice and

public safety agencies. Thousands of incidents

that require mutual aid and coordinated response

happen each and every day. High-profile

incidents, such as bombings or plane crashes, test

the ability of public safety service organizations

to mount well-coordinated responses. In an era

where technology can bring news, current events,

and entertainment to the farthest reaches of the

world, many police officers, firefighters, and

emergency medical service personnel cannot

communicate with each other during routine

operations or major emergencies, such as the

Oklahoma City bombing. New technologies are

promoting the convergence of information and

communication systems with the result that

portable and mobile units are increasingly being

viewed as merely wireless nodes within

information networks. Interoperability, the ability

of two or more organizations to communicate and

share information (voice, data, images, and

video), is therefore becoming more difficult.

To illustrate this point, one need only look at the

existing environment of the public safety

community. There are more than 17000 law

enforcement agencies in the United States.

Approximately 95 % of these agencies employ

fewer than 100 sworn officers. Additionally,

over 35000 fire and emergency medical agencies

exist across the nation. Due to the fragmented

nature of this community, most public safety

communications systems are stovepipe systems

that do not facilitate interoperability. To further

complicate the situation, public safety radio

frequencies are distributed across four isolated

frequency bands from low band VHF (25 MHz to

50 MHz) to 800 MHz (806 MHz to 869 MHz),

with no universally available or affordable radio

being able to operate across the entire range.

Technical Strategy

During FY2000, OLES concentrated most of its

technical efforts toward a major program of the

National Institute of Justice (NIJ) called

“AGILE.” At the same time, it continued its

support to NIJ in other areas related to public

safety needs.

NIJ and its AGILE Program

As the Department of Justice's science and

technology arm for federal, state, and local

agencies, the NIJ has been addressing

interoperability technology issues for a number

of years. This is because the Law Enforcement

and Corrections Technology Advisory Council

(LECTAC), which provides advice and guidance

to NIJ and its National Law Enforcement and

Corrections Technology Centers (NLECTC), has

consistently identified information sharing and

communications interoperability as top priorities.

(LECTAC consists of representatives of federal,

state, and local law enforcement and corrections

practitioners.) It is natural, then, that the goal of

NIJ’s Advanced Generation of Interoperability

for Law Enforcement (AGILE) program is to

Technical Contact:

Kathleen Higgins

George Lieberman

Staff-Years:

15.0 professionals

Funding Sources:

100% Other Government

Agencies

Project Champions:

• Institute for Telecommunication

Sciences, the research and

engineering branch of the

National Telecommunications

and Information Administration

(NTIA), Boulder, CO

Effective communication is a critical aspect of

both law enforcement and corrections

operations. Dispatch is the nerve center of the

agency.
Office of Law Enforcement Standar 35

assist the federal, state, and local criminal justice

and public safety communities in achieving their

interoperability technology needs.

AGILE is a comprehensive program that

addresses interoperability technology issues on

several fronts while leveraging many other

related efforts in a complementary manner. For

example, NIJ is working closely with the

Administration's National Partnership for

Reinventing Government (NPRG) initiatives;

specifically, the Office of Justice Program's

(OJP’s) Information Technology Executive

Council Integration Initiative, which supports the

Global Criminal Justice Information Network

(GCJIN) and the Public Safety Wireless Network

(PSWN). The OJP Executive Council has tasked

NIJ with being the technical arm for its

Integration Initiative. As such, NIJ through its

AGILE Program is leading the development of

wireless telecommunications and information

technology standards, profiles, and guidelines for

information sharing to facilitate interoperability

at state, local, and federal levels.

The Integral Role of OLES in the

NIJ/AGILE Standards Project

OLES plays a key and pivotal role in the AGILE

Standards Project. The same formal processes

that OLES has used in successfully bringing

users, technologists, industry representatives, and

members of the standards development

organizations (SDOs) together for other standards

efforts, have been used again for the AGILE

Program. In some respects, the AGILE Program

may present fewer difficulties for standards

development since the vast majority of standards

(perhaps 95 % or more) will be chosen from

existing standards. That is, OLES will support

and facilitate the work of CJ/PS users, who will

identify desirable standards that have been

developed by national and international SDOs.

Those interoperability standards will then be

recommended to NIJ for adoption as NIJ

Standards. Only in very rare cases will the users

(and OLES) need to develop technical

specifications to create standards that do not

already exist. Even in those cases, the actual

standards activities may occur through the formal

structures of the SDOs. That is, selected users

and/or OLES will simply represent the needs of

the CJ/PS users within the appropriate SDO

committees, and ensure that the proper standards

are developed correctly, and in a timely fashion.

The AGILE Standards Process

The AGILE standards process can be seen as

having two distinct phases – the “Preparation

Phase” and the “Implementation Phase.” The

Preparation Phase is that part of the project in

which background material is accumulated and

analyzed, and the Implementation Phase is

planned. The Preparation Phase, which is

necessarily tedious, does not involve the user

community directly. It actually prepares for the

users’ involvement, by developing a set of

documents that can provide a good starting point

for the Implementation Phase.

Figure 1 illustrates the demarcation between the

Preparation and Implementation phases of the

standards process. The Implementation Phase

starts to occur on the far-right side of the

diagram, i.e., at the points where “Wireless

Interoperability Standards Development” and “IT

Information-Sharing Standards Development”

begin, respectively. Activities to the left of those

points are included within the Preparation Phase.

That is, the development of the Strategic Plans is

the last effort in the Preparation Phase, for these

plans provide the rationale and general

methodology for initiating the standards

development actions. A closer look at Figure 1

will clarify this.

The Preparation Phase begins with the “Outline

of the Strategic Plan: Standards for Wireless

Communication and Information Technologies

for Public Safety Under NIJ’s AGILE Program,”

shown on the extreme left side of the diagram.

As noted above, this document (designated SP–

00–0001) defines what needs to be accomplished

during the Preparation Phase of the Standards

Process. The blocks shown in the figure directly

to the right of SP–00–0001 provide the

information that is needed for the Strategic Plans

to be completed.

The ability of an officer to communicate

with other local agencies and emergency

responders is critical to efficient and safe

operations.

ds
36 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

The “Requirements” documents, SP–00–0002

and SP–00–0003, are really the cornerstones for

the wireless telecommunications and IT

(information-sharing) standards processes. All

proposed standards adoption activities must be

validated by referring to the users’ requirements.

The Environmental Surveys, one for wireless and

the other for IT, are snapshots of current and

planned telecommunications and IT activities,

organized state-by-state. That is, they present the

current assets, and what is planned to upgrade or

replace them. It is important to know what the

state and local agencies presently have, so as to

not offer interoperability approaches that will

cause them unwarranted technical effort or

excessive cost. These survey reports document

the types of systems and networks used by each

state for various governmental functions (law

enforcement, corrections, judiciary/courts, fire,

etc.) based on published or website data. No

attempt is made to conduct personal interviews to

fine-tune the gathered data, because users’

representatives will thoroughly review (and

validate) all Preparation Phase documents during

the early stages of the Implementation Phase.

Technology Descriptions (contained in

documents SP–00–0006 and SP–00–0007)

provide an objective view of current and

emerging wireless and information technologies,

particularly those that have been standardized.

The information in these documents will be

considered in the two Strategic Plans as

alternative technical approaches are addressed.

Both large-scale (architectural) and individual

(access/channel) techniques for wireless

interoperability and information-sharing will

need to consider the implications of evolving

technologies, and how they can be efficiently

accommodated.

Internal and external factors are those issues that

can (or will) influence the selection of an

approach for interoperability or information

sharing. That is, they are political,

legal/regulatory, or cultural conditions that can

restrict the number of viable or practical choices.

Internal factors are those that are imposed by

those in the community, and may be able to be

changed. External factors are derived by others,

and normally cannot be altered or deleted.

Documents SP–00–0008 and SP–00–0009

address such factors as state privacy laws (that

restrict or closely control the access to, and

exchange of, certain data on individuals) and

radio frequency assignments of the Federal

Communications Commission (FCC) and the

National Telecommunications and Information

Administration (NTIA).

Outline of 

the Strategic 

Plan

SP-00-0001

Wireless Requirements

SP-00-0002

IT Requirements

SP-00-0003

Wireless Environmental

Survey 

SP-00-0004

IT Environmental 

Survey 

SP-00-0005

Wireless Technology 

Description

SP-00-0006

IT Technology 

Description

SP-00-0007

Wireless Internal &

External Factors

SP-00-0008

IT Internal &

External Factors

SP-00-0009

WIRELESS 

STANDARDS

STRATEGIC PLAN

SP-00-0012

IT

STANDARDS

STRATEGIC PLAN

SP-00-0013

Data Model

SP-00-0010

Standardization

Procedures

SP-00-0011

Standardization

Procedures

SP-00-0011

Wireless Interoperability 

Standards

Development

IT 

Information-Sharing

Standards

Development

Figure 1. Overview of AGILE Standards Process and Associated Documents
Office of Law Enforcement Standards 3737

ds

All of the documents summarized above provide

input to their respective Strategic Plans and may

actually be considered as components or

“sections” of the Strategic Plans. As separate

documents, these information sources can be

revised or updated individually without requiring

the others to be modified. That is, they are

independent by design. However, the Strategic

Plans, which consider (and use) the data from all

these sources, probably would be affected by

most significant changes in these documents.

Strategic Plans, therefore, are re-examined when

input data have changed, to determine if the

approaches need to be refined.

The last documents that are developed as part of

the Preparation Phase are shown in Figure 1 as

residing within the Strategic Plans themselves.

This is because they are not as independent as the

other information sources, and in fact need to

consider the other sources in their development.

The Data Model (SP–00–0010) document (shown

only in the IT Standards Strategic Plan) provides

a framework for creating a common intermediate

representation of key CJ/PS data elements to

enable broader information sharing capability.

The data model, which will be completed with

the help of the user-experts in the Implementation

Phase, will outline the actual scenario under

which data will be accessed and transferred, and

will include data format guidelines,

communications protocol guidelines, and

operational guidelines. The suite of IT

Standards, then, will accommodate the data

model; that is, make the concepts possible.

The NIJ/AGILE Standards Organization and

Procedures document (SP–00–0011) is the

general strawman for conducting formal

“Implementation” business in both the Wireless

Interoperability Standards Development and IT

Information-Sharing Standards Development

activities. The procedures document outlines the

structure and operational functions of the

organizations that will eventually present

proposed standards to NIJ for adoption as NIJ

Standards. Before standards can be proposed,

however, the appropriate standards committees

will identify standards candidates and evaluate

their applicability and worth in satisfying users'

requirements (within the context of certain

architectural models).

In addition to the general strawman found in SP–

00–0011, two other documents will be used by

the respective Standards Committees to more

specifically describe their organization and

operations. The Standards Committee related to

IT information sharing will use SP–00–0014 to

fashion an effective approach. A similar

document will outline the design and workings of

the Wireless Interoperability Standards

Committee.

FY2001 Implementation Phase

Activities

In order to begin the Implementation Phase of the

AGILE Standards process, formal standards

committees will need to be established and

convened. Recognized officials from the

criminal justice and public safety communities

will be sought to represent the users in the

highest-level committees. At the same time,

working groups of technical experts will be

organized and convened to confront detailed

technical issues that arise during higher-level

discussions. OLES will develop agendas,

discussion points, white papers, and other aids

that can be used to structure and advance the

work of the committees and working groups.

OLES will present the standards committees with

the Preparation Phase documents (described

above) as draft documents to be validated, and

then used by the committees.

After the standards committees have all relevant

background material, and approved procedures to

conduct business, OLES will begin providing

standards to them in a structured fashion. The

identification and compilation of formal

documents that are associated with standards

activities is a huge task. It is estimated that

telecommunications and IT standards may

already number between 5000 and 10000

documents. In addition, there are some 1200

active SDO specifications/agreements that may

find their way to becoming formal standards.

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

alone has some 450 documents that specify the

Internet and its operations.

The IETF documents will be reviewed and

analyzed as a good starting point to expedite

standardization of IT interoperability (and IT

mobility, i.e., wireless access to the IT network

framework). Even with 450 documents,

however, it is fairly certain that they will not

provide the necessary characterization of virtual

private networks (VPNs), multi-level security

techniques, and transfer mechanisms required for

criminal justice or public safety operations. New

documents will need to be developed and offered

to the IETF and the SDOs for review and

adoption.
38 Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory

In conjunction with standards “discovery,” it will

be necessary to analyze the available (and

emerging) IT and telecommunications standards

and SDO specifications and agreements for

applicability to satisfying the needs of the

criminal justice and public safety communities.

The salient characteristics of the standards and

agreements, and the results of the analysis for

each, will then be documented. Furthermore, it

will be necessary to harmonize the diversified

requirements of the (wireless)

telecommunications users with those of the

(wireline) information technology users to ensure

that all end-to-end system interoperability issues

are adequately addressed, including performance.

As potential interoperability approaches are

derived, simulations and/or laboratory testing

may be needed to assess the viability and

effectiveness of the schemes.

OLES will act as the secretariat for the standards

organization during its initial operation, and as

NIJ standards are adopted. Where necessary,

standard profiles will be developed and adopted

to further define the particular technical

specifications of the standards that are

implemented. Therefore, it will be required to

construct and maintain a relational database

containing lists of adopted standards and their

profiles, as well as the actual documents.

Accomplishments

! Completed the AGILE Strategic Plan for

developing IT Information-Sharing Standards, as

well as all of its accompanying documents. This

finished the Preparation Phase for IT standards

development. All background documents for the

Wireless Standards Strategic Plan were also

developed; however, the Strategic Plan

associated with wireless telecommunications

interoperability requires additional information

related to the members of the standards

committees and working groups.

! Performed a formal technical evaluation of

an audio gateway device. This was accomplished

as part of the technology evaluation function for

the AGILE Program. Labeled a “cross-banding

technology,” the equipment allows the

interoperation of dissimilar wireless

telecommunication systems, e.g., between very

high frequency (VHF) radios and ultra-high

frequency radios. An evaluation report was

provided to NIJ for dissemination to public safety

agencies.

! Provided a presentation at the 2000

International Symposium on Advanced Radio

Technologies (ISART). The presentation, entitled

“The Effect of Evolving IT Applications on

Broadband Wireless Requirements,”

characterized (AGILE) public safety needs in

terms of required broadband wireless system

design specifications.

! Published NIJ Guide 201–99, “Video

Surveillance Equipment Selection and

Application Guide." This guide educates law

enforcement and corrections agencies in the costeffective and application-specific selection of

video surveillance equipment. The guide pays

particular attention to delineating the technical

parameters that most influence operational

performance of video gear used by police to

collect evidence or provide safety.

! Submitted NIJ Guide 202–99, “Antenna

System Guide,” to NIJ sponsor for approval. In

this guide, the reader is provided with sufficient

understanding of the fundamentals,

characteristics, and functions of antennas to

enable him or her to develop requirements and

discuss antennas with vendors, installers, repair

shops, and others. This information is generally

restricted to the kind of antenna systems used by

law enforcement agencies.

Publications

NIJ Guide 201–99, “Video Surveillance Equipment Selection

and Application Guide,” October 1999.

NIJ Guide 202–99, “Antenna System Guide,” under NIJ

review.
Office of Law Enforcement Standar 39

Office of Law Enforcement Standards

Organization (810.02)

For additional information about the Office of Law Enforcement Standards, please visit our

Web sites at http://www.eeel.nist.gov/oles or http://www.nlectc.org. Staff may be contacted

at the following telephone extensions (301–975–XXXX):

Name Title Extension

Kathleen Higgins Director, OLES 2754

Thomas Russell Special Assistant to the Director 2665

Sharon Lyles Administrative Support Assistant 2757

Marilyn Leach Secretary 2756

Susan Ballou Program Manager, Forensic Sciences 8750

Alim Fatah Program Manager, Chemical Systems and Materials 2753

George Lieberman Program Manager, Detection, Inspection and

Enforcement Technologies

4258

Kirk Rice Program Manager, Weapons and Protective Systems 8071

Nathaniel Waters Engineering Technician 5128

ds

January 2001

For additional information contact:

Telephone: (301) 975-2757

Facsimile: (301) 948-0978

On the Web: http://www.eeel.nist.gov/810.02