Though Chattanooga Police Capt. Jeannie Snyder relinquished her department-issued weapon recently, she remains armed and continues to perform all of her regular duties, officials have confirmed.

“She did voluntarily turn in her police-issued gun. But that does not prohibit her from carrying a personal firearm,” said Capt. Mike Mathis, head of the Chattanooga Police Department’s internal affairs division. “It does not change the status of her being a police officer. She still has 100 percent authority.”

Police Chief Freeman Cooper declined any further comment Monday, but city spokesman Richard Beeland said the chief had confirmed to him last week that “Jeannie Snyder chose to surrender her service weapon due to recent public concern” stemming from a Feb. 7 incident at a Marietta mall.

Mr. Beeland said he was not aware of the status of her personal weapon, which department gun she may have turned in or exactly when that took place.

During the incident on Feb. 7, Cobb County, Ga., police detained but did not arrest or charge Capt. Snyder, 43, for alleged drunken and disorderly behavior at the Town Center Mall. The captain, who was on personal leave at the time, was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a possible overdose.

Several department officials were dispatched there to check on her.

She returned to work without incident, as she had been on personal leave at the time and had not violated any department policy or procedure, according to Chief Cooper.

Capt. Mathis said Monday that her new weapon status does not violate policy, either.

“She continues to drive our police car, and our policy says that to do that, you have to be armed,” he said. “But nowhere in there does it say that it has to be with a department-issued weapon.”

Department policy does not preclude officers from using personal weapons on duty — or from making arrests with those weapons — as long as the chief has approved their right to carry those weapons, Capt. Mathis said.

If the individually purchased weapons are department-approved, officers do not need a separate state carry permit to use them, he added.

In a recent City Council committee meeting, Councilman Leamon Pierce had raised questions about Capt. Snyder’s ability to carry a weapon and the liability attached to that. He could not be reached for further comment Monday evening.

City Attorney Randy Nelson said Monday he could not say whether liability would change when an officer carries a personal weapon versus a department gun.

Capt. Snyder’s regular duties do not involve street patrol, as the 19-year department veteran now supervises grants and special projects.

She served as assistant chief from January through November of last year, when she voluntarily stepped down to her current position.

She has been hospitalized at least three times since her initial appointment to Chief Cooper’s administration.

The day following her January 2007 appointment, Capt. Snyder was taken to Erlanger hospital after failing to show up for a regularly scheduled meeting. Department officials found her collapsed and unresponsive in her Red Bank home, but never disclosed the exact nature of her medical condition, citing federal privacy laws.

She went missing again in September of last year, when a large-scale manhunt was launched for her in a wooded area of Marion County, Tenn. Capt. Snyder ultimately emerged from the woods on her own, suffering from what officials ultimately deemed a “toxic reaction to prescribed medication.”

She took a six-week leave as department officials launched a “fact-finding” investigation after that incident. They determined she had not violated any policy and did not need to be disciplined in any way.

Capt. Snyder has declined to answer any questions from the Times Free Press.