The Seattle Police Department has fired an officer from duty, after his insensitive comments and laughter followed the horrific death of 23-year-old Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula and caused an outrage.
Kandula was struck by a speeding police vehicle driven by Seattle Police Officer Kevin Dave as she was crossing a street on January 23, 2023. Dave was driving at more than 119 kmph on the way to a report of a drug overdose call. Kandula was thrown 100 feet when she was struck by the speeding police patrol vehicle.
Seattle Police Department has removed officer Daniel Auderer from duty. In bodycam footage released by the department, Auderer was heard laughing after the deadly crash and had remarked: “Uh, I think she went up on the hood, hit the windshield, and then when he hit the brakes, flew off the car…But she is dead.”
After making these comments, Auderer “laughed hard for four seconds”, the department’s Disciplinary Action Report said.
Auderer’s body-worn camera also captured him saying, “Yeah, just write a check. Just, yeah (laughter). USD 11,000. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value.”
When asked at an Office of Police Accountability interview about his comments that Kandula had “limited value”, Auderer claimed he was “ridiculing the city attorneys who would be tasked with litigating a potential wrongful death lawsuit”.
Interim Chief Sue Rahr at the Seattle Police Department said in an internal email, seen by PTI Wednesday, that the hurt Auderer’s words have inflicted on Kandula’s family “cannot be erased”.
“The actions (of) this individual police officer have brought shame on the Seattle Police Department and our entire profession, making the job of every police officer more difficult,” Rahr said.
Rahr, who is the leader of the organisation, said it is her duty to uphold the high standards necessary to maintain public trust. “For me to allow the officer to remain on our force would only bring further dishonour to the entire department. For that reason, I am going to terminate his employment,” she said in the internal email.
Rahr noted that at the root of this case lies an extremely difficult judgment call of how to fairly balance “intent versus impact”.
“There is no doubt that the named officer’s cruel comments and callous laughter about the tragic death caused deep pain to Ms Kandula’s family, but also immeasurable damage to the public trust of police in the Seattle community, across the nation, and around the world,” she said in the email.
Noting that it is unusual for a Chief to explain a disciplinary decision to an entire organisation, Rahr said this is an unusual enough circumstance and the “case has been covered extensively in the public, has garnered international media and diplomatic attention”.
Rahr added that it has been “quite striking” to her that a number of people, even those known to be very “pro-police”, feel the “dehumanizing laughter heard on the video is more outrageous and disturbing” than Kandula’s death.
“Our government gives police officers the authority to deprive people of their liberty and in the most extreme circumstances, their life,” Rahr said.
“This authority rests on the public’s trust that officers will demonstrate respect for the sanctity of human life. The officer’s laughter and callous comments about the ‘limited value’ of Ms. Kandula’s life displayed a cruel mockery of the sanctity of her life. That is a betrayal of that sacred trust. Not only did his comments irrevocably break the public’s trust in the officer, individually, but they caused extreme damage to the public’s trust in the entire Seattle Police Department,” Rahr said.
She noted that the impact of Auderer’s actions is “so devastating that it cannot be mitigated by his intent to keep his conversation private”.
In February, the King County Prosecutor’s Office had said that they would not move forward with criminal charges against Dave. The Seattle City Attorney had issued a USD 5,000 traffic infraction against him, according to KomoNews.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion had said that she believes they lack the evidence to prove a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt.
“It is the responsibility of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to review all available evidence relating to the case involving Seattle Police Officer Kevin Dave and the January 2023 collision death of Jaahnavi Kandula. After staffing this case with senior deputy prosecuting attorneys and office leadership, I have determined that we lack sufficient evidence under Washington State law to prove a criminal case beyond a reasonable doubt.”
