About
Retired Captain Spencer Fomby is the section chair for the National Tactical Officers Association Public Order Section and coordinated the creation of the NTOA Public Order Response and Operation Standards, the NTOA Public Order Basic Command Certification Course, and the NTOA Public Order Grenadier Workshop. He is the former director of the Boise, Idaho, Police Department Training, Education, and Development Division. He was previously employed by the Berkeley Police Department in California for 20 years. He has held primary assignments in patrol, narcotics, and crime prevention. He was assigned to SWAT for 18 years as an entry team member, team leader, and tactical commander. Spencer was the lead Berkeley Police Department public order instructor. He was responsible for equipment selection, tactical training, less-lethal weapon selection, chemical agent selection and deployment, and mission planning.
Spencer was the 2011 Berkeley Police Department Officer of the Year. He was the team leader of the 2013 Urban Shield SWAT Competition first-place team. He is assigned to a National Institute of Justice Special Technical Committee on public order equipment. He is assigned to ASTM working groups on ballistic protection, less lethal weapons, and public order equipment. He is a subject matter expert in public order equipment and tactics for the DHS First Responder Resource Group. He is a subject matter expert in active shooter response for the International Association of Chiefs of Police Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRITAC). Spencer was a Visiting Fellow in Police Science at the University of Derby, UK, from 2017 to 2021. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Administration of Justice from Howard University. He is the author of the chapter on public order use of force in the international anthology Public Order Policing: A Professional's Guide to International Theories, Case Studies, and Best Practices. (2024).
Captain (Ret.) Fomby has been a certified instructor in the following disciplines: firearms (pistol, shotgun, and carbine), weaponless defense, impact weapons, Peacekeeper RCB, Gracie Survival Tactics Level 1, active shooter response, ALICE, chemical agents, NFDD, sting balls, 40 mm launcher, PepperBall, FN 303, shoot house, and tactical de-escalation. He has created two CA POST-approved de-escalation courses.