An cop from Seattle was caught on video joking about a woman who was murdered by a police car
World news today. An inquiry has been launched because a bodycam video from the Seattle Police Department appears to show an officer joking about a woman who was killed when she was struck by a patrol car.
Officer Daniel Auderer was on his way to the scene of an incident when he learned that Jaahnavi Kandula, 23 years old, had been shot and died close to her university.
as the video, the officer can be heard stating that the life of the Indian student had “limited value” and that the city should “just write a cheque” as compensation for the loss.
The officer has stated that his remarks have been misinterpreted and taken out of context.
On January 23, Ms. Kandula, a graduate student at Northeastern University, was crossing the street when she was struck and murdered by a police cruiser.
The cop who was driving the car was doing 74 miles per hour (119 kilometers per hour), the Seattle Times reports, citing a report from the police inquiry, and the body of the graduate student was thrown more than 100 feet (30 meters) away.
Officer Auderer was dispatched to the scene of the incident, and upon arrival, he discovered that the audio from a call he had placed to a fellow officer had been caught by his body camera.
The cop can be heard stating, “But she is dead,” before breaking out into laughter. “No, it’s just a regular person,” you respond. “Yeah, just write a check,” he affirms before bursting out laughing once more.
The total comes to eleven thousand dollars. Anyway, she was 26 years old. She was only marginally useful.”
Mr. Auderer, a union leader for the Seattle Police Department, was talking on the phone with Mr. Mike Solan, the president of the guild. There is a problem with Mr. Solan’s audio.
The Seattle Police Department issued a statement usa today sports on Monday saying that it learned of the chat from an employee who was “in the routine course of business” when the employee listened to it.
According to the statement made by the police, this worker was “concerned about the nature of statements” and took their concerns further up the line of command.
After then, the incident was turned over to the Office of Police Accountability, which is the organization that examines instances of wrongdoing committed by police officers.
According to the remarks made by the Seattle Police Department, the agency is investigating “the context in which” the statements were made and determining whether or not any policies were broken.
Conservative talk radio presenter Jason Rantz on KTTH-AM said that he had gotten a written statement from Mr. Auderer claiming that his comments were meant to replicate how city attorneys may try to minimize blame for the woman’s death. Mr. Auderer was quoted as saying that he had obtained the statement from Mr. Auderer.
Mr. Auderer allegedly said in his letter, “I laughed at the ridiculousness of how these incidents are litigated,” which was read on KTTH radio.
The footage from the body camera was described as “heartbreaking and shockingly insensitive” by the Seattle Community Police Commission, which is another oversight organization.
The chairwoman of the African American Community Advisory Council, Victoria Beach, was quoted in the local news as saying that she was “sickened about it,” in addition to expressing shock and a range of emotions.
“I was very disturbed that somebody could laugh about somebody who died,” she said. “I was very disturbed.”
A criminal investigation into the collision is currently being carried out by the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.