In a conversation with Mike Solan, the head of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, Seattle Police Department officer and SPOG vice president Daniel Auderer minimized the killing of 23-year-old student Jaahnavi Kandula by police officer Kevin Dave and joked that she had “limited value” as a “regular person” who was only 26 years old.
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In fact, as we reported exclusively, Dave was driving 74 miles an hour in a 25 mile per hour zone and struck Kandula while she was attempting to cross the street in a marked and well-lighted crosswalk.
It’s almost as if that cop has lost some of his humanity. Auderer, I mean. While this may be something that people can write off as “part of the job” it is unacceptable. Auderer needs to be put on indefinite mental health leave, and the rest of us need to have a long conversation about how we got here and what we’re going to do about it
If I were to kill someone on the job while driving a company vehicle 3x the speed limit, ignoring protocol and several laws, I wouldn’t be put on indefinite paid leave, and I’m willing to bet that you wouldn’t either.
It’s shameful that embarrassment is our path to any shred of accountability.