Complete Oceanside Police Statement

Statement by the Oceanside Police Department Regarding the Off-Duty SDPD Officer-Involved Shooting on March 15, 2008 The Oceanside Police Department has reached a point in its investigation where it is ...

[Chuck in San Diego]

"Displayed a handgun" sounds a whole lot like brandishing a firearm, a penal code infraction the officer should have known about, it's also a three months mandatory jail. What kind of cop fires from inside his own car (shooting from inside a car is a Federal offense). Was her mini-Mazda car so dangerous that he had to execute the driver and her son, sounds like road rage pure and simple. Lady may have started it but it doesn't (legally anyway) mean she should be shot. Anyone see the damage to her car in the police pics, if she rammed someone in that pile of junk it sure didn't do any damage to her car. We're paying for this criminal's paid vacation, and my taxes are going to have to pay for this drunk lady and her kid millions of dollars when all is said and done.

[Born Yesterday]

I believe their report. However, I am puzzle as to why it took so long to investigate and why the report contradicts every fact of information released to the local media? All of this report must be 100% accurate because of this extensive investigation. I wish I were a cop.

[MIKE]

Chuck I am not sure what penal code you are reading but whether its displaying a handgun or brandish a firearm, its legal for Officer White to do so at any time on or off duty. And technically, the moment he takes defensive action, he is offically on duty by his own powers under PC 832. Shooting from inside a car is not a federal offense. And any laws which govern such actions do not apply to a peace officer OR a citizen acting in self defense.

[B Richards]

That cop was an overzealous trigger happy Puss that
couldn't defend himself from a 105 lb unarmed drunk woman. He was off duty and out of his juristiction. There should be laws against off
duty cops following drivers home or into parking
lots then waving thier guns and badges. Anyone
can buy a badge and a gun and say they are a cop.
If you see an unmarked car trying to pull you over at night even with a flashing red light on the dash
just keep going. The vehicle must have a constant
red light in the front, should have a spotlight,
license plates with all numbers a siren and a PA
system for the officer to identify himself.
The only reason the Oceanside cop got away with this shooting is because he's a cop. If I did that
to the lady and her kid I would be looking at 8-15
years in Federal prison. It is always these young
Rambos that want to be cops 24/7 and take matters
in thier own hands without calling the local police agencies for backup.

[MikeM]

On duty, Off duty, does it matter? He has his badge, he has his gun. He has his years of training. He failed to uphold his sworn oath to serve and protect. His wife did the only smart thing between the two of them, she called 911, twice. According to the Oceanside investigation report. Mr White fired five rounds in less than five seconds into Mrs. Silvas car. A little over kill in my thinking. Shoot the tires, that works. He can see what he's shooting at, it stops the car. The sound of the shots will probably scare the heck out of the driver too. But policemen are only trained to KILL, not to maime or slow down.( That's why they had so much trouble up in LA with those bank robbers all dressed up in bullet proof outfits, they were all aiming for the heart and not the face and hands )

[Stygian]

MikeM wrote:

On duty, Off duty, does it matter? He has his badge, he has his gun. He has his years of training. He failed to uphold his sworn oath to serve and protect. His wife did the only smart thing between the two of them, she called 911, twice. According to the Oceanside investigation report. Mr White fired five rounds in less than five seconds into Mrs. Silvas car. A little over kill in my thinking. Shoot the tires, that works. He can see what he's shooting at, it stops the car. The sound of the shots will probably scare the heck out of the driver too. But policemen are only trained to KILL, not to maime or slow down.( That's why they had so much trouble up in LA with those bank robbers all dressed up in bullet proof outfits, they were all aiming for the heart and not the face and hands )

"Shoot the tires"? Are you serious? Yeah, that'll immobilize it because it's a known fact that no vehicle can move once the tires deflate.

And I suspect that even had he shot out the tires, you'd be complaining about where the bullets went once they exited the tires.

You sound like the type that will always find something wrong with a police action. The type that cry foul and say that the police should've magically disarmed the bad guys, just like they do on TV.

The fact is the woman was using her vehicle in a threatening manner, and a motor vehicle in motion possesses more kinetic energy and damage potential than a bullet by several orders of magnitude.

It is too bad that a child was involved in the situation, but whose fault was that? In fact, without the woman's active participation in the sequence of events then NONE of it would have happened.

That is unless you believe the officer was hunting for someone to wave his gun and shoot at, in which case there are some nice gentlemen with a wrap-around overcoat with whom you desperately need an appointment.

[paul felenczak]

So I'll ask the question again : Why do you need a gun to go to Lowe's?

[Stygian]

paul felenczak wrote:

So I'll ask the question again : Why do you need a gun to go to Lowe's?

Off duty police officers frequently carry guns. The rationale is that one never knows where one will encounter crime. It is also because it is possible, even likely, that there are those out there who will harbor a grudge against a police officer and will not adhere strictly to that officer's on-duty time when it comes to exacting some sort of revenge.

Assuming that mass of multi-trillion nerve fibres between your ears has a purpose beyond simply keeping your skull from imploding, you might try using it to see a scenario in which the officer was doing nothing more sinister than going about the benign activities that fill his day when he is not officially engaged in framing the innocent and hunting down the helpless.