The police officer observed on bodycam joking about a young woman’s traffic accident fatality has been dismissed. Det. Daniel Auderer, the police guild’s vice president, lost his job on Wednesday.
Seattle police commanders reportedly suggested in February that he be suspended or fired. Interim police chief Sue Rahr supported the removal, stating that Auderer’s words brought “lasting shame” on the department (h/t The Seattle Times).
Det. Daniel Auderer was captured on bodycam after arriving at the scene where fellow officer Kevin Dave tragically struck Northeastern University master’s degree student, Jaahnavi Kandula, 23.
“Just write a check for 11 thousand dollars,” he ordered another cop over the phone. “She was 26, she had limited value.” Rahr’s disciplinary action report stated that he was unaware he was being videotaped.
“Three seconds later, you realized your body-worn camera was on, and your hand jerked from the steering wheel to deactivate the device,” she reported.
Dave allegedly drove 74 mph in a 25 mph zone on his way to an overdose call on January 23, 2023. Meanwhile, Kandula was going westbound on Thomas Street at Dexter Avenue North. She was unable to see northbound vehicles due to construction barriers and an angled sidewalk. Then she got to the crosswalk. Dave slammed his brakes a second before colliding with her, but he was still doing 63 mph at the time, according to police.
He received a traffic penalty in March, and prosecutors previously stated that even if they could prove irresponsible driving, it did not satisfy the legal bar for felony criminal charges in Washington state.
Auderer reportedly told internal investigators that he was not mocking Kandula with his “limited value” remark, but rather the city’s attorneys, who may have to negotiate a settlement with her family’s lawyers if a case is launched. Rahr, on the other hand, insisted that his comment went too far.
“The hurt your words have inflicted on Ms. Kandula’s family and community cannot be erased,” she wrote in a letter. “Your particular acts have brought long-lasting humiliation to the Seattle Police Department, an embarrassment to our whole profession, and made every police officer’s work more difficult.
It is my responsibility as leader of this institution to sustain the high standards required to maintain public trust. Allowing you to continue working for SPD would bring discredit to the entire department.