SEATTLE — The findings against a police officer who was caught on camera joking about the death of 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula have been released.
Officer Kevin Dave hit and killed Kandula with his patrol car in January of 2022, according to CBS affiliate KIRO.
Dave was responding to a separate call before hitting Kandula.
In the months that followed, footage was released of Seattle Police Officers Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer talking about the incident on the phone 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.”
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An investigation was launched by the Office of Police Accountability, an independent office within the Seattle Police Department that investigates complaints against officers and handles disciplinary action.
OPA Director Gino Betts Jr. described the officer’s words as “derogatory, disturbing, and inhumane.”
“The officer’s comments undermined public trust in the department, himself, and his colleagues,” Betts said. “For many, it confirmed, fairly or not, beliefs that some officers devalue and conceal disparaging views about community members.”
A meeting with SPD’s chain of command was scheduled for Jan. 23 where the OPS recommended discipline to the chief of police.
That disciplinary action has not been released.
We will continue to follow this story.
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