Panel clears Quakertown police chief of wrongdoing in confrontation with teenage protesters
Scott McElree was struck multiple times by students during the scuffle and sustained serious injuries, including fractured ribs and a collapsed lung, the report said.
A panel tapped by Quakertown Borough to review its police chief’s actions during a chaotic confrontation with student protesters concluded that the chief acted reasonably when he used force — including briefly wrapping his arm around a teenage girl’s neck.
The panel, composed of four members of the Police Chiefs’ Association of Bucks County, found that Police Chief Scott McElree’s actions were “justified and within police policy” during the Feb. 20 incident, according to a copy of the chiefs’ report provided by the borough.
Five teenagers were arrested and charged with aggravated assault, a felony, following the fray. Bucks County prosecutors have withdrawn the felony charges against at least three of the juveniles, their attorneys said.
After video footage of the incident circulated widely, McElree, 72, faced pressure from residents to resign from his post as chief. McElree also serves as the borough’s manager, a post that places him in charge of public records, among other duties.
The panel’s conclusions relied on its review of police reports and video footage provided by the borough, according to its report, which was completed last week and released by the borough late Thursday. The report said the situation escalated after officers attempted to detain a student during a protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement that drew about 40 participants.
According to the report, officers had repeatedly warned students to stay out of the street and avoid unlawful conduct before moving to make an arrest. When a student pulled away and retreated into the crowd, other students surrounded her, and a physical struggle followed as officers, includingMcElree, moved in.
The panel said McElree, who was not in uniform, was struck multiple times by students and sustained serious injuries, including fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. It concluded that officers used restraint and that higher levels of force — such as Tasers or chemical spray — could have been justified, but were not used.
Shortly after the incident, McElree took worker’s compensation leave. He remained on leave this week, an attorney for the borough said.
The report, dated on April 8, also addressed a widely circulated image that appeared to show McElree with his arm around a 15-year-old girl’s neck. The panel said the image captured a moment lasting less than two seconds, “after he [McElree] had fallen to the ground,” and did not constitute a chokehold.
The video, obtained and reviewed by The Inquirer, shows McElree with his arm wrapped around the girl’s neck, while he remained standing. He keeps his arm around her neck for at least seven seconds before he and the student fell to the ground, the video shows, as other teenagers intervened, striking the police chief.
Other videos recorded by bystanders and previously reviewed by The Inquirer show McElree grappling with other teenagers. He walked away from the scene bleeding from his ear.
The affidavit of probable cause for the students’ arrests, compiled by Quakertown police, offers a more limited account than the report by the police chief’s association, saying that McElree was attempting to take a student into custody when he was struck in the ear by a teenage boy and hit in the shoulder and ribs by others. The document does not mention a chokehold.
Attorneys for the teenagers have disputed the police narrative, saying the affidavit omits key details about McElree’s use of force. Timothy Prendergast, the lawyer representing the girl captured on video being held around her neck by McElree, said his client “was a victim, not an aggressor,” in the melee.
None of the teens who were arrested, Prendergast said, knew at the time that McElree was the police chief.
In its report, the panel acknowledged some shortcomings in the Quakertown police response during the protest. It found that McElree was not clearly identifiable as a police officer and recommended that officers in similar situations display visible badges. It also said the borough should improve how it communicates with the public after high-profile incidents.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the incident. At least three of the teens’ lawyers, including Prendergast, asked the Pennsylvania attorney general to take over the investigation, however, contending that the agency charged with prosecuting the teenagers couldn’t complete an objective review. The attorney general’s office declined to intervene.