A bodycam video of a Seattle police Department union leader has gone viral on social media. He was heard joking about the death of an Indian student by a police cruiser as she was crossing a street. 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula was killed in the accident on 23rd January 2023. Kevin Dave was the officer whose speeding car had hit Kandula, resulting in her death. Kandula was from Andhra Pradesh.
As per the reports, Dave was driving his car at 119 KMPH (74 MPH) while responding to an overdose call. On his way to the scene, he hit Kandula, who was crossing the road. Daniel Auderer, a drug recognition expert, was assigned to the case to evaluate if Dave was impaired. Following the accident, Auderer called the guild President, Mike Solan, to inform him what happened.
Initially, Auderer reported the officer was driving his car at 50 MPH and was not “out of control”. However, later, the police investigation found that the car was at 74 MPH when it hit Jaahnvi. She was thrown over 100 feet away.
The recording of the bodycam was released on Monday by the Seattle police department. In the video, Auderer could be heard laughing and suggesting that Kandula was 26, and her life had “limited value” and that the city should just “write a cheque” worth USD 11,000.
In a statement, the police department said that the video was identified “in the routine course of business by a department employee, who, concerned about the nature of statements heard on that video, appropriately escalated their concerns through their chain of command to the Chief’s Office which, following a review of the video, referred the matter to OPA for investigation into the context in which those statements were made and any policy violation that might be implicated.”
Assistant Director of Operations at the Office of Police Accountability Katie Maier said in a statement that the office received a complaint on 2nd August from an employee with the Seattle Police Department, and an investigation was initiated into the matter.
In the video, Auderer said, “Eleven thousand dollars. She was 26, anyway… She had limited value.” Notably, Kandula was 23 at the time of the accident. Solan’s remarks were not recorded in the video. In a written statement provided by Auderer to Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability, he said Solan had lamented the death. He further claimed that his comments were “intended to mimic” how the city’s attorneys might try to minimize the liability for Kandula’s death.
According to KTTH-AM host Jason Rantz, who obtained a copy of the written statement, Auderer wrote, “I intended the comment as a mockery of lawyers. I laughed at the ridiculousness of how these incidents are litigated and how I watched these incidents play out as two parties bargain over a tragedy.”
The station further reported that Auderer acknowledged anyone listening to his statement without context to the conversation would “rightfully believe I was being insensitive to the loss of human life.” Auderer claimed to have reported himself to the accountability office after “realizing his statement was recorded”.
Kandula was supposed to get her master’s degree in information systems from the Seattle campus of Northeastern University in December 2023. Her body was transferred to India for the last rites by her uncle Ashok Mandula, who lives in Houston. Speaking to Seattle Times, Mandula said, “The family has nothing to say except I wonder if these men’s daughters or granddaughters have value. A life is a life.”
In July, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office released bodycam footage of Kevin Dave on the public records request of Fox 13. In the video released by Fox 13, Dave could be seen performing CPR as the first responders started showing up at the scene. Dave could be seen passing red lights at high speeds slowing down periodically when he hit Kandula.
In a bodycam video of another officer, Dave was heard saying, “Lights were on. I was chirping the sirens.… she was in the crosswalk. She saw me, she started running through the crosswalk. Slammed on my breaks. Started staying back where she should before crossing. I can have a hundred minutes. I could have… there’s nothing for me to do right now but sit. And that is the f–king worst thing that…you just have to sit here. So many questions that are unanswered, so many questions.”
The Seattle Police Department said they are in touch with Kandula’s family as part of the investigation.
