Concord School Board Members to Consider Bearcat Proposal

The Concord School Board will consider a request by city officials offering support or rejection of a proposal before the Concord City Council for an armored vehicle to replace an aging apparatus currently in the city’s arsenal.

Concord Police Chief John Duval said he reached out to school officials in the Concord School District and Merrimack Valley School District before the council’s Aug. 12, hearing on the matter, to solicit support for the grant application.

During recent meetings, including a joint school board/Concord City Council meeting on Aug. 16, City Manager Tom Aspell and Mayor Jim Bouley discussed the Bearcat issue with the board and requested consideration for the proposal, noting that Merrimack Valley had already offered support.

Merrimack Valley has three communities in the Central New Hampshire Special Operations Unit: Boscawen, Concord, and Chichester, according to police.

Duval said that he hadn’t reached out to other school districts in the unit, just the two Concord districts, since he thought they should have knowledge of the grant.

“I thought it was important that the two districts chime in on it,” he said.

The police and districts have been working on a number of school safety initiatives and have been involved in emergency training. Concord High School was also involved in an alleged gun scare in late April that turned out to be a false report where the Peacekeeper was used.

Duval said that he didn’t plan on reaching out to other districts in the compact before the September council hearing on the matter. He said support from Sheriff Scott Hilliard, who also represents many of those communities, as well as other police agencies in the unit, was a sign that the Bearcat was needed and wanted.

“The recent incident at the school in (Decatur, Georgia) is further evidence for the need of this rescue vehicle,” he said.

Superintendent Dr. Chris Rath confirmed in an email that she was drafting a letter for board members that would be presented at a meeting on Aug. 28, at 5:30 p.m., in a special meeting. She did not comment on the nature of the letter or whether or not she would be advising support or rejection of the grant. The district recently accepted a federal grant for upgraded security equipment at Concord High School, according to school documents. 

The Bearcat proposal in Concord has drawn a lot of attention, both locally and nationally, to the issue of militarization of police forces. Protesters also showed up in force for the Aug. 12, hearing and have commented online about problems with the grant application and whether or not the Bearcat is needed in Concord.