Seattle police officer heard laughter and jokes after a woman was killed by another patrol car

The video was released publicly by the police department on Monday and shows the conversation between officer Daniel Auderer – who is also vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild – talking to guild president Mike Solan after he was called to the crime scene where his colleague Kevin Dave slammed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula at a crosswalk. Kandula died from her injuries in hospital later that evening.

Auderer was allegedly dispatched to the scene to assess whether Dave was impaired at the time of the accident. The officer was traveling 75 mph in a 25 mph zone en route to an overdose call when he hit Kandula.

After giving his assessment, Auderer called Solan, with his body camera recording only his side of the conversation.

“She’s dead,” he said, before appearing to laugh at something Solan said on the other end. “No, it’s a normal person,” Auderer added, before responding to another unheard comment from Solan by saying, “Just write a check. $11,000, she was 26 anyway, her value was limited.”

He continued to laugh throughout his comments.

According to Seattle PD, the video was “identified in the course of day-to-day business by a department employee who was concerned about the nature of the statements heard in this video and appropriately escalated his concerns through his chain of command to the chief’s office, which, following a review of the videos, he referred the matter to the OPA to investigate the context in which these statements were made and any policy violations that may be involved.

OPA is the city’s Office of Police Accountability, which has launched an investigation into the incident. Per USA todayThe King County Prosecutor’s Office is also conducting a criminal investigation.

“SPD has contacted the family of the pedestrian victim and continues to honor their expressed request for privacy,” police added. “As others in the accountability system continue their work, we once again express our deepest sympathy for this tragic collision.”

The victim’s family released a statement Fox 13, said it was “truly disturbing and sad to hear comments from an SPD officer about the bodycam video of Jaahnavi’s death.” They continued, adding, “Jaahnavi is a beloved daughter and absolutely precious to her mother and her family. We firmly believe that every human life is invaluable and should not be discounted, especially in the event of a tragic loss.”

However, Auderer said his comments were “not made out of malice or a hard heart” – this is evident from a written statement he reportedly made to the OPA. about conservative radio talk host Jason Rantz.

“During that call, Mike Solan made the statement that it was unfortunate that this would result in lawyers arguing about the ‘value of human life,'” he wrote. “Mike Solan asked me, while lamenting the loss of life, something like, ‘What crazy arguments can a lawyer make about something like this? What kind of crazy thing can they come up with?’”

“I responded with something like, ‘She’s 26 years old. What value does that have? Who cares?’ My intention with the comment was to mock lawyers. I mimicked what a lawyer assigned to try the case would say and used sarcasm to convey that they shouldn’t come up with crazy arguments to minimize the payment,” he continued. “I laughed at how ridiculous the way these incidents are litigated is, and how ridiculous I was watching these incidents unfold as two parties negotiated a tragedy.”

Auderer also reportedly admitted that the footage would cause anyone to “rightfully believe that I was insensitive to the loss of life” – but stressed that his comment “was not made out of malice or a hard heart.”

Rantz also claimed that Auderer self-reported his comments to the OPA – he became aware that their conversation had been recorded after “his body camera accidentally turned on” and he knew it would “sound bad.” In conversation with The Seattle TimesOPA Director Gino Betts Jr. said the investigation into the incident began after a police attorney emailed them in August.