Fomby, Spencer
Carroll, Richard
Davidov, Peter
Policing Political Protests with National Standards

This seminar will cover issues related to policing violent political protests between Right- and Left-wing extremists. The presenter will share lessons learned from years of protest experience in the California Bay Area, including 12 protest events in 2017 and events in 2018 and 2020.

Spencer Fomby - Bio
Spencer Fomby began his law enforcement career in 1999 with the Berkeley Police Department. He has been a member of the SWAT team since 2004 and has served as a team leader since 2010. In March 2021, he was hired by the Boise, Idaho Police department, where he is Captain over the training division. During his career, Fomby has provided instruction in SWAT, Defensive Tactics, Tactical Firearms, Mobile Field Force, Counter Ambush, Active Shooter/Rescue Task Force, Tactical De-escalation, and High-Risk Patrol Tactics. He was selected as his department's Officer of the Year in 2011 for his actions during an officer-involved shooting. Spencer was the leader of the 2013 Urban Shield first-place team. He is a member of a National Institute of Justice Special Technical Committee on civil disturbance units and is a visiting fellow in policing at the University of Derby in the UK. Spencer is the lead departmental crowd control instructor, responsible for equipment selection, tactical training, less-lethal weapon selection, chemical agent selection and deployment, and mission planning. He has extensive experience as a squad leader in crowd control events. Spencer holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Howard University.

Richard Carroll - Bio
Richard Carroll began his law enforcement career in 1999 with the Maryland State Police. He served the SWAT Team as a point man, sniper, explosive breacher, assistant team leader, and team commander. Richard is the commander of the Special Tactical Assault Team Element (S.T.A.T.E.). While assigned to S.T.A.T.E. Richard also commanded the Department’s 15 Public Order Platoons. He developed training and procured equipment for nearly 350 personnel. The Department was one of the first agencies in the United States to adopt British standards for training and equipment related to public order response. Richard is a special technical consultant for the National Institute of Justice and American Standards for Testing and Materials associated with Homeland Security Response. He was certified as a police instructor in 2008 and has developed multiple courses for the Maryland Police and Corrections Training Commission. Richard has provided course instruction for thousands of police officers from all 50 states.

Peter Davidov - Bio
Peter Davidov has served in law enforcement since 1992 when he began his career as a reserve police officer for the Metropolitan Police in Washington, DC. He has served as a United States Capitol Police Officer, Scottsdale, AZ Police Officer and as a Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. He has spent the majority of his career with the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) in Maryland. Peter has extensive experience as a firearms and general instructor. He has taught entry level and advanced police training in use of force and firearms. He has specialized in the highly demanding area of police response to civil disorder, an environment in which police use of force is highly scrutinized. He has trained for civil disturbance since he began his law enforcement career. Peter was one of the founding members and lead trainers of Montgomery County’s Special Event Response Team (SERT) which is responsible for handling civil disturbance. He has responded to many major events including IMF protests in Washington, DC, the 2009 G20 protest in Pittsburgh, PA, Presidential Inaugurations in 1992, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013 and 2017, the 2015 Baltimore Civil Unrest and multiple protests in 2020 in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd. He was the CDU leader for Montgomery County’s SERT response to the Baltimore unrest. He was the part of the command team for MCPDs emergency response to the United States Capitol on January 6th, 2021. He is one of the founding members of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) CDU subcommittee and served as chairman of the committee from 2015-2017 and is the current Chairman. He is currently a member of the National Institute of Justice’s Special Technical Committee for CDU personal protective equipment. As a member of the STC he travelled to the United Kingdom and Germany to meet with public order and crowd control experts and practitioners in November of 2017. He presented at the National Public Order Workshop in Ottawa, Canada in November of 2019 at the invitation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He is a consultant for the DHS Center for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, AL serving as a crowd management instructor and subject matter expert. He is a member of the National Tactical Officers Association Public Order Working group.