SPD officer fired after joking about death of Jaahnavi Kandula, killed in officer involved crash

Wednesday evening the Seattle Police Department confirmed to KIRO 7 that Officer Daniel Auderer had been fired from SPD.

Auderer was recorded on his own body camera joking over the phone about the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, a pedestrian who was killed by another SPD officer while responding to a scene.

Interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr made the decision to fire Auderer.

In an internal email sent by Rahr to the department she said:

“As I consider all of these factors, 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.”

Officer Kevin Dave hit and killed Kandula with his patrol car in January of 2023 at the intersection of Dexter Avenue North and Thomas Street.

Auderer had responded to the scene to conduct a drug recognition test on Dave. According to the timestamp on the bodycam video, Auderer’s phone call about the incident took place the following evening.

Auderer at the time was the vice president of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild. He was speaking with SPOG President Mike Solan.

In that conversation, Auderer can be heard laughing as he referred to Kandula as “a regular person,” going on to say, “just write a check -- $11,000, she was 26 anyway, she had limited value.”

“The actions 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,” said Rahr.

This past January, a year after the fatal crash, the Office of Police Accountability concluded their investigation into Auderer’s comments. OPA recommended sustained findings, which started the disciplinary process that ultimately led to Auderer’s firing.