Date: Monday, November 23
Time: 12 p.m. ET | 11 a.m. CT | 9 a.m. PT
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How should police respond when a peaceful demonstration begins to change? When can intervention prevent disorder, and when might police tactics unintentionally escalate tensions? And what does emerging research tell us about managing crowds while protecting First Amendment rights and maintaining public safety?
Public order policing is evolving as new research challenges traditional assumptions about crowd behavior and agencies reassess how they prepare for and respond to demonstrations. One emerging approach is the Portland Framework for Dialogue Policing, developed to translate principles of crowd science, communication and proportionality into practical strategies for American law enforcement.
At the same time, court decisions involving protected protest activity, passive resistance, dispersal orders and less-lethal force are reinforcing the importance of sound tactical decisions and legally defensible responses.
In this Police1 webinar, crowd psychology researcher Dr. Cliff Stott, who has been involved in developing the Portland dialogue policing model, public order policing expert Spencer Fomby and police legal expert Chief Ken Wallentine will examine how research, operational experience and legal guidance can inform modern public order policing.
The discussion will explore what the Portland Framework offers U.S. agencies, how dialogue-based approaches can work alongside traditional crowd management tactics, and how commanders and frontline supervisors can make informed decisions as conditions change.
Attendees will learn:
- What crowd science reveals about how police tactics can influence crowd behavior and escalation.
- How the Portland Framework for Dialogue Policing translates research into practical approaches for U.S. agencies.
- How communication and differentiation can help police respond to unlawful conduct without unnecessarily escalating tensions with peaceful demonstrators.
- What evolving case law means for dispersal orders, passive resistance and less-lethal force.
- How chiefs, commanders and frontline supervisors can incorporate these principles into training, operational plans and decisions in the field.
About our panel
Spencer Fomby is a retired police captain and public order policing specialist who chairs the National Tactical Officers Association’s Public Order Section. He helped develop the NTOA’s Public Order Response and Operations Standards and its public order command training. Previously, he directed the Boise Police Department’s Training, Education and Development Division and served 20 years with the Berkeley Police Department, where he was a public order instructor and tactical commander. His expertise includes crowd management, less-lethal weapons, tactical de-escalation and public order operations.
Clifford Stott, MBE, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert in crowd psychology and public order policing and academic director of the Centre for Policing Research and Learning at The Open University. His research has influenced approaches to managing protests, major sporting events and public gatherings internationally. In the United States, he has led Department of Justice-funded research involving protest policing in Portland and Columbus, Ohio, helping agencies develop research-informed approaches emphasizing dialogue, facilitation and de-escalation.
Ken Wallentine is a former police chief of the West Jordan (Utah) Police Department and former chief of law enforcement for the Utah Attorney General. He has served over four decades in public safety, is a legal expert and editor of Xiphos, a monthly national criminal procedure newsletter. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Death and serves as a use of force consultant in state and federal criminal and civil litigation across the nation.
Register now using the “Register for this Police1 Webinar” box on this page!