Seattle officer recorded joking about woman’s death, saying ‘she had limited value’

A Seattle Police Department vehicle in 2021.

Ted S. Warren/AP

In bodycam footage released this week, a Seattle Police officer is heard making callous comments about a young woman who died after she was struck in a crosswalk by an officer responding to a call.

The footage was recorded on January 24, the morning after Seattle police officer Kevin Dave hit 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula with his vehicle while he was driving 74 miles an hour in a 25 mph area, responding to a reported overdose.

In the footage, Seattle police officer Daniel Auderer, who is vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, is heard speaking to someone on the phone. Only Auderer’s side of the conversation can be heard. He was reportedly speaking to Mike Solan, who is president of the guild, known as SPOG.

Auderer talks about the crash, saying “it does not seem like there’s a criminal investigation going on.” Auderer, a drug recognition evaluator who works on the SPD’s DUI squad, was part of the post-incident process of the crash, screening Dave for impairment.

“I mean, he’s going 50. That’s not out of control, that’s not reckless for a trained driver,” Auderer says. “Yeah, lights and sirens.”

“I don’t think she was thrown 40 feet, either,” Auderer says.

A report by the SPD’s traffic collision investigation squad later found that Dave had been driving at a peak speed of 74 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone. Investigators concluded that Dave struck Kandula with his Ford SUV at approximately 63 miles per…