Abstract
With an exploratory-descriptive perspective, Body Armour is approached here with a focus on the acquisition of ballistic protection equipment. A brief theoretical review on the subject is carried out, considering productions from the year 2000 onwards. There was a predominance of studies focused on ballistics, with a focus on new materials, and resistance to projectiles, especially caliber 7.62X39mm. It also presents, as part of the study, the analysis of (a) two cases of Brazilian police activity where the absence of adequate vestments generated serious consequences for the police officers involved, (b) the analysis of some cases of City Dominance, the investigation of the profile of weapons, ammunition and equipment used by extremely dangerous criminals and (c) the analysis of patterns of government purchase of vestments adopted by the Brazilian security forces. The study concludes that the purchase pattern of vests (ballistic vests) is inappropriate: the best adoption is NIJ 010104 or 010106 Level III or higher.