Police reforms in Quakertown are needed after student ICE protest, Bucks County NAACP says

A leader of the Bucks County NAACP and a state legislator on Friday called for reforms in the Quakertown Borough Police Department, saying an investigation that cleared Police Chief Scott McElree of criminal wrongdoing for placing a teenage protester in a chokehold during a confrontation with students earlier this year should not end scrutiny of the incident.

NAACP President Adrienne King joined State Rep. Napoleon Nelson in urging Quakertown police to adopt stronger use-of-force policies to prevent a similar response in the future. Nelson, a Montgomery County Democrat, also said he plans to introduce legislation establishing statewide restrictions on chokeholds and expanding the use of body-worn cameras, among other aims.

The calls for change came a week after the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office concluded its six-month independent investigation into a Feb. 20 brawl that broke out as students protested ICE enforcement. The investigation concluded that while McElree was the “precipitating factor” in the violence — and confirmed that he held a 15-year-old girl in a chokehold for at least eight seconds — he neither committed a crime nor violated his department’s policies.

In a 20-page report, investigators noted that Quakertown police have no policy restricting chokeholds or other neck restraints and that Pennsylvania law likewise places no limits on their use. But investigators said McElree’s decision to engage with the students was “calamitous” and “led to confusion and trauma for an entire community.”

Investigators also concluded that several students continued assaulting McElree after it became apparent he was a police officer. McElree, who was 72 at the time, suffered what investigators described as “extensive and serious bodily injury,” including fractured ribs, multiple cuts and a concussion.

Five students were charged with aggravated assaults and various misdemeanors in connection with the confrontation, though their cases were later resolved through diversion agreements.

On Friday, King and Nelson said Quakertown’s lack of policies governing chokeholds underscored the need for reform, regardless of the district attorney’s conclusion that McElree had not acted criminally. “No criminal charges,” King said, “cannot mean no accountability.”

After George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police in 2020, then-Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub announced that all 39 law enforcement agencies in the county had committed to adopting use-of-force policies that met nationally recognized best-practice standards, including restrictions on chokeholds.

But by the start of this year, King said, 13 agencies — including Quakertown’s police department — had yet to update their policies.

King said she and other NAACP representatives hope to meet with McElree and work with the department to update its use-of-force policy. She also called on District Attorney Joseph Khan to revive the countywide effort to bring every police department into compliance with those standards.

McElree, who also serves as the borough’s manager, did not return a phone call seeking comment Friday. The borough’s attorney, Peter Nelson, and a spokesperson for the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nelson said the legislation he plans to introduce would include “common sense measures to help ensure what happened” in Quakertown does not “continue to go unanswered.”

Meanwhile, the Peace Center of Bucks County plans to host four “listening circles” in Quakertown, where residents will be invited to discuss how the conflict affected their lives.

Barbara Simmons, the organization’s executive director, called the gatherings an “opportunity to cultivate empathy” in a community that has remained deeply divided since the confrontation.

The sessions are expected to begin next week, with dates, times and locations to be posted on the center’s website.