Research, Testing, Upgrade Criminal Justice Technology

This article first portrays the administrative procedure TAP uses for selecting the police equipment to be evaluated and the new technologies to be explored. A description of the Law Enforcement Standards Laboratory's standard-setting process, the step following priority-setting, encompasses determining the performance requirements for specific equipment and how they correspond to product attributes. The National Institute of Justice makes the final decision on the standard's content. After describing procedures for testing equipment, the article briefly reviews types of National Institute of Justice publications and other research and indicates how the TAP helps to improve criminal justice products. Some recent test reports are listed along with ordering information. Photographs depict some of the equipment tested.