Quakertown officials have released an after-action report compiled by Police Chiefs Association of Bucks County members finding that officers responded appropriately to a student walkout Feb. 20 that led to a violent clash with police.
The review had been requested by Quakertown police. It was completed by four chiefs from Central Bucks and Lower Bucks while awaiting a separate review from the district attorney’s office, the borough’s solicitor wrote in a press release April 16.
The after-action report includes recommendations for improvement from Quakertown police, as well as new images from the clash.
“Although the event became increasingly disorderly at points, officers made repeated attempts to deescalateand maintain control without resorting to force,” the report reads.
“When arrests became necessary, officers acted in a manner that was reasonable, restrained, and consistent with the laws governing the use of force.”
The report details the actions that police Chief Scott McElree, Lt. Joshua Mallery and school resource Officer Bob Lee took prior to McElree’s clash with students.
“The single image that drew media attention showing Chief McElree on the ground with his arm around a female suspect’s upper torso/neck, appears to have been captured from a clip lasting less than two seconds,” the chiefs wrote. “It captured a moment immediately after he had fallen to the ground, while restraining a resisting subject and did not rise to the level of an attempted chokehold.”
McElree has said he was protecting the student, not choking her.
In additional video taken from Sunday’s Deli, however, the chief is shown with his arm around the girl’s neck while she’s standing and resisting him.
The report concludes that “all force used was objectively reasonable.”
“All detainees were treated with dignity and respect before, during, and after the arrest process,” the police chiefs wrote.
A request by this news organization for the department’s use-of-force reports related to the incident has been denied. An appeal for those reports has filed with the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.
The report includes what appears to be security footage and other images from the clash along Front Street, including students attacking McElree, but does not include images of the chief putting a protester in a chokehold.
Association members added an addendum to the report in early April after receiving new footage. They wrote that the footage supported their initial conclusions.
“After multiple warnings to cease dangerous and unlawful behavior, several students were identified as offenders, and lawful arrests based on probable cause were initiated. When officers attempted to effectuate the arrests, they encountered immediate resistance, including students breaking away from the grasp of uniformed law enforcement officers, students physically obstructing officers while attempting to pull others away, and an outright physical assault,” the chiefs wrote.
“The student offenders on February 20, 2026 demonstrated a blatant disregard for constitutional law and a profound disrespect for the uniformed law enforcement presence, whose main mission from the outset of the event was to ensure the safety of the students.”
The police chiefs who completed the report wrote in a “recommendations” section that police should have clearly identifiable markings when in plain clothes, as McElree was during the clash, and that people in uniform should make the arrests.
They also recommended that all police wear body cameras for incidents of this kind, and that the department officers should have communicated more with the public following the incident in order to reduce tensions.
Five students were arrested after the walkout, and several were charged with felonies related to the clash with police. At least two have seen their felonies dropped, and an offer to drop felonies for a third student has been made, according to their lawyers.
The Bucks County District Attorney’s office has not released results, if any, of its review of the incident.
