Jaahnavi Kandula’s Death: US Officer Claims Comments Were Taken Out of Context in the Wake of Public Outrage

In response to the horrible murder of Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula, the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild defended the cruel words of one of its officials, claiming that certain media-shared viral recordings of police activities were misinterpreted.

On January 23 in Seattle, Kandula, 23, was hit by a police car being operated by Officer Kevin Dave as she crossed a roadway. On his route to a complaint of a drug overdose, he was traveling at a speed of 74 mph (more than 119 km/h). The speeding police patrol car hit Kandula, sending her flying 100 feet.

Officer Daniel Auderer chuckled about the fatal collision and denied any suggestion that Dave could have been at blame or that a criminal investigation was required in bodycam video released by the Seattle Police Department on Monday. Yeah, just write a check,” Auderer is heard saying in the footage. USD 11,000. In any case, she was just 26 and had little worth. “Only one side of the dialogue is seen in the video. The Seattle Police Officers Guild revealed a letter written by its officer Auderer on Friday, in which the latter claimed that he meant the remark to be seen as a satire of attorneys. “There is much more detail and nuance that has not yet been made public…,” the Seattle Police Officers Guild stated in a statement.

Officer Auderer said that his remark about the city merely writing a check was misinterpreted during a private call that his department-issued body camera was recording. In a letter dated August 3 to the Office of Police Accountability, Auderer said he had chuckled at the absurdity of the legal proceedings surrounding these instances as well as the absurdity of seeing these situations unfold as two people settle a tragic dispute.

“At the time, I thought the chat was off-camera and private. In his letter to Gino Betts, director of the Office of Police Accountability, he said that the dialogue was also beyond the scope of his responsibilities. He added, “I was called from home on January 23, 2023 to help with a death incident involving a city car.

“I contacted Mike Solan on the way home to give him an update on what had happened. My BWV, which was on, unintentionally captured the phone call. The discussion happened in my police vehicle. I was the only one inside. Mike Solan said something to the effect that it was sad that this would devolve into attorneys debating “The value of human life” during that phone conversation, the author wrote. “As he was mourning the loss of life, Mike Solan said something along the lines of, ‘What ridiculous argument can a lawyer make in something like this? What illogical thing can they think of? I said, “What value is there, who cares? She’s 26 years old,” or something to that effect. I was mimicking what a lawyer entrusted with settling the case would say and using sarcasm to emphasize that they shouldn’t be coming up with absurd defenses to reduce the payment, Auderer said. I meant the statement as a mocking of attorneys.

“I smiled at the absurdity of these cases being contested and the absurdity of how I have seen these cases develop as two parties negotiate a tragedy. I thought the communication was private and not being recorded at the time. Additionally, the chat had nothing to do with my job, he said. “I see that the remark’s potential for being shocking and vulgar without context. Without context, the remark seems cruel to the victim’s family, but in actuality, I was having a discussion about how heartless the court system is. I didn’t know who the victim was at the time,” he wrote.

Auderer said that he does see how a person would interpret his remarks as being callous about the loss of a human life. “I also realize that if heard, it would damage public confidence in the Seattle Police Department and complicate everyone’s duties. Having said all of that, the statement was not made maliciously or with a harsh heart—quite the reverse. “I am asking speedy adjudication in an effort to be as open and honest as feasible. I am ready to accept whatever fair punishment that our accountability partners and the police chief choose to impose,” he said.

In a statement, the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild said that certain media reports on popular recordings of police operations omit key details or context. “This footage from the Seattle Police shows that reality. Only one side of the dialogue is seen in the video. There is a great deal more information and subtlety that has not been made public, but SPOG is fully confident that the Office of Police Accountability (OPA), a civilian-led mechanism for police accountability, will undertake an exhaustive and impartial inquiry, the guild said in a statement.

After learning about the availability of the video, Auderer quickly accepted responsibility for his conduct and wrote a statement asking Gino Betts, the director of OPA, to take “Rapid Adjudication” into consideration. Rapid adjudication is a disciplinary procedure that the City of Seattle and the SPOG agreed upon in order to speed up police personnel misconduct investigations and apply acceptable penalties. Dan completed this work more than 4 weeks prior to the video’s release, the guild said.

Thousands of people have joined an online petition to fire Auderer that was started in the meantime. “We are putting our community at danger by allowing him to continue in a position where he interacts with the public. According to the online petition on Change.org, “His actions have shown that he does not prioritize public safety or respect the rights and dignity of persons under his domain.

In the seconds after the collision, Auderer was seen on his body camera making a troubling comment, implying that Jaahnavi’s life had “limited value.” This week, when the bodycam video was exposed, many Change.org petitions seeking accountability were established. “We demand that our community’s well-being be given top priority by being addressed as soon as possible by Mayor Jenny Durkan, members of the City Council, and other pertinent authorities. Our goal is fairness. Jaahnavi is our sister and our daughter, according to Nishtha Raheja Goel, the person who started the online petition. There were more than 6,700 signatures on the petition.

The petitioners demand that the people in charge of deciding who works in law enforcement in Seattle immediately fire Auderer, conduct extensive background checks on applicants, enforce stricter accountability policies within law enforcement organizations, and offer in-depth instruction on empathy, cultural sensitivity, and proper conduct around victims and their families. actions, we can safeguard the safety of all Seattle citizens and rebuild public confidence in our police department. The petition urges people to “stand together against those who misuse their authority and demand justice for Jaahnavi Kandula and other victims who have endured harm as a result of Daniel Auderer’s conduct.

Kshama Sawant, a councilwoman from Seattle, demanded an urgent, impartial, and open inquiry into this injustice in a statement. “Auderer, the vice president of the profoundly conservative Seattle Police Officers’ Guild (SPOG), which has campaigned against all forms of police accountability, deserves to be dismissed right now. The Seattle Police Department should also dismiss Mike Solan, the SPOG President, she said.

The working people of our city need an independently elected community oversight with complete authority over the police, including hiring and firing as well as rules and procedures, since the OPA has failed to hold the police responsible.In reaction to the death of Kandula, a young Indian exchange student who was ran over by Officer Dave’s police car, Officer Auderer of the Seattle Police Department cackled and said that her life “had limited value.” Because Auderer possesses a publicly financed gun and the legal right to use deadly force, his callous disdain for human life as seen in this video is more shocking, Sawant added.