A Seattle police officer has come under fire after he was caught mocking the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old college student who was fatally struck by another cop.
According to NBC News, city officials are investigating bodycam footage in which officer Daniel Auderer can be heard joking about the Jan. 23 death. Kandula was reportedly in a crosswalk when she was hit by a patrol vehicle going 74 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone. An investigation revealed that the officer behind the wheel was responding to a “priority one call” when he struck Kandula, who was thrown more than 100 feet after impact.
The Northeastern University graduate student was immediately transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
A day after the deadly collision, Auderer hopped on a phone call to discuss the incident with Mike Solan, the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild. Bodycam footage captured Auderer downplaying the tragedy, insisting the involved officer had been “going 50 [mph],” which was “not out of control.”
“That’s not reckless for a trained driver,” Daniel Auderer said on the call, going on to callously laughing about Kandula's death. “No, it’s a regular person. Yeah, just write a check. $11,000. She was 26 anyway. She had limited value.”
She was actually, as previously stated, only 23.
Solan’s comments could not be heard in the clip.
According to an SPD press release, the video was identified by a department employee who was “concerned about the nature of [Auderer’s] statements.” The Chief’s Officer reportedly reviewed the footage and referred the matter to the Office of Police Accountability. The OPA and SPD are reviewing the incident along with the Office of Inspector General for Public Safety.
“What it says about the police’s views on accountability provisions is the joke was ostensibly about lawyers cutting a check and accountability for police officers when they break policy or rules,” said Joel Merkel, Co-Chair of the Seattle Community Police Commission. “He’s [Auderer] out there sworn to serve and protect our community and he’s joking about a member of our community that just died. It’s just awful and heartbreaking and just disgusting.”
He continued, “This video shows exactly why we have more to do on accountability. It seemed like the officer who was joking about this pedestrian’s death and minimizing any potential investigation into the officer that struck her as flaunting accountability and that’s why we have such a huge problem.”
