San Diego's chief of police discussed Officer Frank White, who was found not guilty of weapons charges Monday in connection with the shooting of a woman and her young son last year in Oceanside.
"Officer White is on voluntary leave at this time," Chief William Lansdowne said Tuesday. "We're going to bring him back on Monday of next week and continue our internal investigation into the circumstances of this event."
Lansdowne discussed the process by which White would return to duty.
"It's just a matter of requesting the ability to come back -- we'll put him back on duty," he said. "He'll be assigned to a non-uniform job while we continue our investigation."
The chief said the departmental investigation would be completed in about three weeks.
At this time, Lansdowne couldn't say whether the White-Rachel Silva case would have any effect on departmental policy.
"We have a review team that looks at every case involving officer-involved shootings, both on- and off-duty, and if there are recommendations for changes, for training, that will come out during the process, and that usually takes a couple of weeks, too," the chief said.
So far, nothing has been heard from White regarding the case, but on Tuesday, his wife, Jacquellyn, called KOGO radio's Chip Franklin Show.
"My husband will go back to work, and he will go and protect and serve you guys just like he did for me that night -- and he will put his life on the line every day, because that's the type of man that he is," Jacquellyn said.
The officer's wife said she was very grateful for what he did that night in March 2008.
"I love my husband very much," she added. "I'm proud of everything that he did for me that night and for saving my life."
The officer's wife said she was satisfied with the verdict.
"We finally got justice yesterday," Jacquellyn told Franklin.
It will likely be quite some time before White will be able to put the incident behind him. Two civil lawsuits stemming from the shooting of a woman and her young son are still moving forward.
Michael Pancer, who is representing Silva in a suit against the city of San Diego, the San Diego Police Department and Frank White, briefly discussed her suit on Tuesday.
"I think [White's attorney] Rick Pinckard and [prosecutor] Jeff Dusek are two very fine lawyers," Pancer said. "They represented the case well as far as giving the picture of both sides. Jeff Dusek had a difficult job trying to prosecute someone with a law enforcement background. However, in a civil case, the standard of proof is different and the outcome may well be different."
Silva's suit is expected to start next year.
