The fourth estate received a public rebuke concealed in a not so veiled threat issued by Freeman Cooper, the Chief of Police, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
It could have been a bad April Fools joke but for the fact that it was a day late and not at all funny. It all happened at a hastily called news conference late morning, Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008, where Chattanooga Police Chief Freeman Cooper asked the media to stop asking questions about problem officer Chattanooga Police Captain Jeannie Snyder.
Cooper went on to issue a veiled threat to the media for doing its job by saying the investigation into the female police captain was “bordering on harassment”.
He continued, “She is a police officer in good standing and that means that she can be armed at anytime with any weapon, it does not have to be the police department’s gun.” Snyder who had already voluntarily stepped down as an assistant police chief taking a Ten Thousand Dollar pay cut in November, 2007, also voluntarily turned in her city issued weapon last week citing public concern over her being armed. The Chattanoogan reported, however, that she was still carrying her...