Montgomery County’s new reporting system for documenting hate and bias incidents includes an online form that can be filled out anonymously.
The new reporting format on the county’s website is intended to make reporting all kinds of incidents simpler.
“We encourage people to file. You can file anonymously. You do not have to attach your name or any information that connects (you back) to this report,” Montgomery County Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Earl Stoddard said. “If you do provide an email address, you’ll be given a tracking number, that way you can follow up.”
He added the county will determine whether incidents reported to the website would be categorized as hate crimes or bias incidents.
“We are going to follow up with every person that provides information and let them know what we found out as far as if it was a crime or not, if it was a bias incident,” Montgomery County Police Capt. Jordan Satinsky said.
Kate Chance, faith community outreach manager for the county’s Office of Community Partnerships, said there are a number of communities in the county that have been targets of hate and bias incidents, but suggested many incidents go unreported.
Chance said many people in the county’s Jewish and Muslim communities were targeted over the last year.
“Nine percent of our population is Jewish, and a majority of the hate-bias incidents that are experienced and reported are targeting Jewish community members, with around 200 of the county’s incidents in the past year being antisemitic,” Chance said.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched an attack inside Israel, “We did see a rise of anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish rhetoric that came in to us in the form of bias and even hate crimes,” Satinsky said, adding it has since “leveled off.”
In August, Montgomery County Public Schools documented a number of antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ incidents.
The announcement of the web portal was made during Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich’s weekly briefing Wednesday.
Elrich said groups working on the county’s Anti-Hate Task Force, which was established in 2023, suggested coming up with an easier way to report hate and bias incidents.
Maryland State Police also track hate and bias incidents, and data from that site shows most incidents are reported in Montgomery, Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Howard counties.
Chance added that it’s difficult to prove hate crimes, even if the incidents generate a lot of fear in communities throughout the county.
“It’s incredibly important to report these incidents,” she said.
Once a user clicks the form, they’re directed to a drop-down menu in dozens of different languages, including those most frequently requested for translation in Montgomery County.
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