Suspended Alpharetta Officer Back At Work

By DOUG NURSE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, January 21, 2009

An Alpharetta police officer suspended in the shooting of a fleeing suspect is back on the job, although she has not returned to patrol duty.

Officer Jennifer Howard was put on adminstrative leave in November while Alpharetta investigators reconstructed the shooting and gathered evidence to be presented to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, no relation to the officer. She now is doing community relations work for the department. When officers fire their weapons, they routinely are placed on administrative leave until an internal investigation is completed.

The prosecutor’s office has yet to determine whether any laws were broken when Jennifer Howard fired at a passing car as the driver fled pursuing officers.

The driver, Warren Price, was hit twice in the abdomen and treated at North Fulton Regional Hospital. His wounds were not considered life threatening.

The chase started in Forsyth County after deputies saw Price wearing an ankle bracelet during a Nov. 6 traffic stop on Ga. 400. He was being sought for violating parole, police said.
The pursuit continued into Alpharetta, where Price was shot. A Forsyth deputy used his patrol car to nose the vehicle off the road. It then rolled, stopping upside down, as police closed in.