Bodycam records officer saying a woman run over by Seattle police had ‘limited value’

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/seattle-police-body-cam-video-discussing-woman-hit-by-officer-rcna104618

Daniel Auderer can be heard in the clip laughing about the woman's death and discussing details of the car crash in a call with the Seattle Police Officers Guild's president.


Seattle police union rank-and-file leaders are under investigation after an officer was recorded on his body camera appearing to make light of the death of a woman who was killed by another officer this year, saying that she “had limited value.”

The Seattle Police Department released footage Monday from Officer Daniel Auderer’s body camera. Auderer left his body camera on after responding to the South Lake Union neighborhood, where a marked patrol vehicle driven by another officer struck and killed Jaahnavi Kandula on Jan. 23. That officer had been responding to a “priority one call,” police said a day after the incident, when he hit Kandula, 23, who had been in a crosswalk.

In the brief clip, Auderer, who is vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, is driving and can be heard discussing details of the incident in a call with the guild’s president, Mike Solan.

Auderer said that the officer whose vehicle struck Kandula had been “going 50” and that “that’s not out of control.” The Seattle Times, citing a police investigation report that was referred to prosecutors for review last month, reported that the officer had been driving at 74 mph and Kandula was thrown more than 100 feet. Seattle police would not confirm details of the collision Tuesday, telling NBC News to submit a public records request for information about the speed at which the officer was traveling, whether he had his sirens on, whether he had faced any discipline and his employment status. The department also would not comment about the phone call between Auderer and Solan.