Chattanooga Police Capt. Jeannie Snyder sent numerous work-related e-mails the week of her Feb. 7 detention at a Georgia mall — the same period of time Police Chief Freeman Cooper has insisted she was on personal leave.
Chief Cooper said last week it is possible Capt. Snyder answered e-mails or attended meetings while off work.
“I’m off this week and have sent more than 100 e-mails (and attended) two meetings,” he wrote last week in an e-mail.
Capt. Snyder declined to answer whether she was on duty when she sent the work-related e-mails that week.
Chief Cooper has said Capt. Snyder took time off during the work week of Feb. 4-8 to use personal days she would have lost as of March 13.
On Feb. 7, Cobb County, Ga., police took her to a hospital “for possible drug overdose” after a Town Center Mall employee reported she was “drunk,” according to an incident report. She was carrying a department-owned handgun, the report states.
Capt. Snyder was not arrested or charged with a crime. Chief Cooper earlier this month said Capt. Snyder’s activities during her personal time are “nobody’s business.” However, he has disciplined at least one other officer for his conduct during off hours.
Chattanooga City Councilman Leamon Pierce has questioned Chief Cooper’s management of the situation, airing concerns to the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, the state attorney general’s office and the Hamilton County district attorney’s office.
None of those efforts were fruitful, he said, so his quest for answers is at a standstill.
“They seem to look like everybody wanted to pass the buck,” Mr. Pierce said. “I don’t know what they’re hiding. But for some reason, they’re just covering it up. ... If I could investigate, I could know that. But there is nothing going to be done about it.”
Through an open-records request to the city, the Chattanooga Times Free Press obtained copies of Capt. Snyder’s e-mails and calendar. The records show Capt. Snyder sent a series of e-mails about a variety of work-related issues during the period she was using up her personal days.
63 e-mails
Capt. Snyder’s e-mail records show that in addition to receiving numerous messages, she sent 37 e-mails on Feb. 4. She sent another 26 e-mails on Feb. 6, the day before the incident at the Georgia mall. The sent messages included discussion about grant funding, department promotions, personnel issues and legal matters.
The only appointment on Capt. Snyder’s calendar for the week was a meeting to discuss implementation of the city’s new pay plan, scheduled for 10 a.m. on Feb. 8.
The previous Friday, Feb. 1, Chief Cooper declined City Finance Administrator Daisy Madison’s invitation to attend the meeting, telling her he would send Capt. Snyder and Lon Eilders, the department’s policy manager, in his place.
There was no reply on record from Capt. Snyder stating she would be on leave the day of the meeting.
She did not send any e-mails on Thursday or Friday of that week, but she sent four the following Monday, Feb. 11, the day Chief Cooper said she returned to work.
The Times Free Press obtained a copy of the Cobb County incident report on March 4. Before that, Chief Cooper had said he had been unaware of her whereabouts.
Several department members, including Lt. Tim Carroll, Capt. Tommy Kennedy, Assistant Chief Bobby Dodd and Capt. Snyder’s husband, a civilian, drove to Marietta that day to see Capt. Snyder. Chief Cooper told the Times Free Press initially that the four men made the trip as personal friends rather than in a professional capacity.
But during a City Council committee meeting, he said he sent members of the department to check on her in his place that day, as he would have done for any other employee.
Chief Cooper last week said he is managing his responsibilities “to the best of (his) ability.”
“Administrators manage departments and employees daily, handling issues or problems as they occur,” he wrote in an e-mail. “(This is) usually done so without interference or assistance from local media or citizens.”
Scrutiny unwarranted?
He said the media scrutiny of Capt. Snyder is unwarranted.
“She has done nothing wrong or improper to deserve this unwanted attention,” Chief Cooper said. “The events involving Capt. Snyder, as unfortunate as they were, do not justify this continued pursuit by the media.”
Capt. Snyder is a 19-year veteran of the department. She became the highest ranking woman in the department when Chief Cooper promoted her to assistant chief in January 2007. The day after she was appointed, colleagues found her unconscious at her Red Bank home after she missed a regular administrative meeting.
In September 2007, she did not show up for work. A multiagency search took place in a wooded area of Marion County. Assistant Chief Snyder, appearing disoriented, walked out of the woods, officials said.
After taking six weeks of personal leave, she returned to work in November but was dropped to the rank of captain at her request. She supervises grants and special projects.
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