Bucks County DA will not charge Quakertown police chief in student ICE protest response

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The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office this week released findings from its investigation into Quakertown police’s response to a Quakertown Community High School student walkout that ended in a violent confrontation.

On Feb. 20, about 40 students walked out of class to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even after school administrators had canceled it citing security concerns.

A confrontation on Front Street between students and Quakertown police officers “ended in violence,” per the report, with four students and three police officers injured, and five students arrested. In the aftermath, some parents and community members called for Quakertown Police Chief Scott McElree to resign, criticizing his decision to enter the fray in plain clothes and restrain a young female high school student by putting her in a headlock and wrestling her to the ground.

The day after the incident, District Attorney Joe Khan announced an investigation into the police response to the protest.

McElree went on worker’s compensation leave shortly after the incident. He returned to work in his roles as both police chief and borough manager in early May.

The district attorney’s office dismissed the most serious charges against all five of the students arrested, and diverted their cases so they could be expunged from their records. The DA declined the request from the Quakertown Borough Police Department to charge additional students with assaulting McElree, per the memorandum.

Here‘s what to know about the district attorney’s findings and what comes next.

Police chief’s use of force legal, but ‘calamitous decision,’ report finds

In a memo summarizing the investigation’s findings, the DA’s office stated that it will not prosecute anyone else in connection to the incident.

McElree’s use of force “did not exceed legal limits under Pennsylvania law,” the investigation found. However, the office states in the report that McElree’s decision to “[charge] after a juvenile without waiting for uniformed officers or even communicating his intentions to his subordinates does not reflect professionalism, coordination or appropriate supervision by the Chief of Police.”

That decision was the “precipitating incident which led to violence outside of Sunday’s Deli,” the report found.

The office stated that although its findings coincided with several recommendations included in another investigation into the incident conducted by the Police Chiefs’ Association of Bucks County, it differed in its characterization of McElree’s actions as being “professional, coordinated, and responsive to rapidly changing conditions.”

“Although McElree was legally authorized to use force, his decision to do so in the manner he chose was not a measured tactical approach that balanced public safety with First Amendment rights,” the DA’s report reads. “It was a calamitous decision that disrupted a student protest and led to confusion and trauma for an entire community.”

The investigation also found allegations that McElree was acting as a counter-protester were groundless.

The report states in summary that “while most students protested lawfully, some broke the law. While most protestors and observers did not recognize McElree as a police officer at first, a few students assaulted police officers in uniform and attacked McElree even after it should have become evident that he was with the QPD.”

Some community members still call on McElree to resign

Quakertown Community School District, Quakertown Borough Police Department and Quakertown Borough administrators did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the DA’s investigation.

About 20 people gathered in Quakertown at the site of the Feb. 20 clash on Monday night, said Amy Knecht, a lead organizer with Upper Bucks United, a nonpartisan, grassroots advocacy group.

The decision to not charge McElree is “really alarming,” Knecht said, “especially after the report also found that it was basically his fault for this whole thing.”

“It’s a pretty scathing report that came out, and we really wanted to highlight the fact that people are upset by these findings,” Knecht, an alum of Quakertown Community School District, said. “Because he clearly was in the wrong. But like, what’s going to be done about it still, you know?”

She said some people are still calling for him to be charged or be fired, while others are asking for policy updates “so this doesn’t ever happen again.”

“I think Upper Bucks United really is in the position of wanting to help heal some of this stuff,” she said. “But again, we feel … there’s still no conclusion. McElree still holds this position of power, two positions of power. So it’s really difficult to kind of take those next steps. So I think that’s what’s going to be in further discussion in the next coming weeks.”

DA’s office will hold discussions with community, police and present additional recommendations

The office called on Quakertown police to adopt 15 use-of-force guidelines developed by the Police Chiefs Association of Bucks County and the district attorney’s office in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. The guidelines include a “prohibition on the use of any technique restricting the intake of oxygen for the purpose of gaining control of a subject unless deadly force is reasonably necessary.”

According to the DA’s investigation, the Quakertown police department is one of the only police departments in the county that has not yet incorporated the use-of-force guidelines into its policies to limit techniques that restrict oxygen intake.

“Given the commitments that Chief McElree made to the Chiefs’ Association and our Office in 2020, it is appropriate to now ask him to immediately provide a timeline for fully implementing in Quakertown the use-of-force reforms which most Bucks County police departments have adopted since then,” the report reads.

The office plans to explain its findings by speaking with community members in conjunction with organizations like The Peace Center in facilitated discussions over the next month and a half. It will also discuss ways to “promote healing, safety and accountability” with law enforcement, including Quakertown police.

The office will then present further recommendations for reforms.

Khan said in a statement Monday that his office “did what prosecutors must always do without fear or favor: follow the facts, apply the law, and exercise sound judgment and discretion.”

“But no criminal investigation alone can heal the trauma and pain the Quakertown community suffered five months ago,” he said. “Our hope is that this report will serve as an important first step in providing a framework for healing.”