The National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice (NILECJ) -- predecessor of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) -- initiated a research program to investigate development of a lightweight body armor or bullet proof vest that on-duty police could wear full time.

The investigation readily identified new materials that could be woven into a lightweight fabric with excellent ballistic resistant properties. Following initial laboratory research, the agency concluded that the objective of producing bulletproof vests or body armor suitable for full-time police use was achievable. In a parallel effort, the National Bureau of Standards' (now known as the National Institute of Standards and Technology) Law Enforcement Standards Laboratory (now known as the Office of Law Enforcement Standards - OLES) developed a performance standard that defined ballistic resistant requirements for police body armor. The National Bureau of Standards was a part of the NIJ Technology Assessment Program, which today is known as the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC).

Of all the equipment developed and evaluated in the 1970s by NIJ, one of its most significant achievements was the development of bullet proof vests that employed DuPont's Kevlar ballistic fabric. Ironically, the fabric was originally intended to replace steel belting in vehicle tires. Lester Shubin, who served as NIJ Technology Assessment Program Manager from 1971-1991, recalls:

"The Army notified me that DuPont had a new fabric to replace steel belting for high-speed tires. When I saw it, I realized it might be a great improvement over nylon for personal armor and bulletproof vests. Nicholas Montanarelli, then an Army Land Warfare technology specialist, and I took a piece of Kevlar to a gun range. We folded it over a couple of times and shot at it. The bullets didn't go through."