Ed Bachner led the battle to make armor lighter and more comfortable, but Dupont and other armor manufacturers also strongly objected to the NIJ standards. This requirement has no physiological justification for magnitude and justification in concept is arguable at best. If I was the shootee, I would want the bullet stopped and would take my chances on any blunt trauma, and every law enforcement officer I have talked to about it feels the same way. The NIJ has openly stated the policy that no one is going to be injured wearing armor they have set the standards for. This attitude might superficially seem desirable, but is actually a rationalization for over specification providing bureaucratic evasion of responsibility for hard decisions on what will save the most officer lives.
Nothing is more important than wear rate in reducing officer fatalities.
The report described in the Vol. Ed Bachner is right and the NIJ is wrong.