Concord residents will get two chances to weigh in on a proposed bias and hate incident reporting system before the town finalizes its design.

Select Board member Paul Boehm, who chairs the Bias and Hate Incident Reporting Work Group, announced the forums on Aug. 28. The first is Friday, Sept. 4, at 10 a.m. at the Main Library, as part of the League of Women Voters of Concord-Carlisle First Friday program. The second is Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Town House Hearing Room.

The forums give residents a chance to shape the system before implementation, which the town anticipates in early 2027.

What the system would do

The proposed program would accept self-reports of bias incidents through an online form, telephone hotline, email, and walk-in office hours. It would not investigate allegations or assign guilt. Instead, a trained staffer would log reports, connect people with resources, and refer cases to police or other town bodies when appropriate.

Aggregated data would appear on a public dashboard. The town estimates setup would require up to 140 hours of staff time, with 10 hours per week to maintain once running.

The work group spent 11 months developing the proposal through bimonthly public meetings before presenting recommendations to the Select Board on June 22.

Why the town says it's needed

Middlesex County District Attorney data reviewed by the work group showed 14 of 33 bias incidents filed countywide in 2025 originated in Concord. Eight of those were school-based, according to minutes from the Feb. 4 Joint School Committee meeting.

"Underreporting is a problem, especially for non-criminal hate incidents, and people aren't going to speak up if they don't trust the system," Boehm said in an Aug. 10 Concord Bridge report on the work group's recommendations.

Unresolved concerns

Privacy remains the central open question.

Select Board members have raised concerns about whether names of accused individuals could be redacted from public records releases. Town counsel is reviewing the legal issues.

Select Board member Cameron McKennitt voiced discomfort at the Aug. 10 meeting "about the fact that we're kind of reporting on people's behavior," the Concord Bridge reported. Resident Mary Hartman raised due process concerns at the same session, saying of the system: "there's been no due process."

Boehm wrote in his Aug. 28 announcement that the forums will address the system's purpose and limitations, and hear residents' questions and suggestions.

How to participate

Residents can attend either forum: Friday, Sept. 4, at 10 a.m. at the Main Library, or Tuesday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. at Town House. A recording of the June 22 Select Board presentation is available through Minuteman Media on the town's website.