US police officer has been removed from service for laughing and making disparaging comments following the death of an Indian student last year after being hit by a police vehicle. Jahnavi Kandula (23), who was from Andhra Pradesh, was crossing the road at a marked crossing when she was hit by the police vehicle on Jan 23 last year.
She was pursuing her master’s from Northeastern University‘s Seattle campus.
While dismissing officer Daniel Auderer from the Seattle police department, interim chief Sue Rahr said his “cruel comments and callous laughter” had caused deep pain to Kandula’s family. This, she said, had damaged the public’s trust in police.
On the day of the accident, the police vehicle had hit Jahnavi while driving at more than 119 kmph to attend a drug overdose case. Auderer was the officer tasked with assessing the incident and the comments were made while on a call with another official. In the bodycam footage, Auderer had remarked: “Yeah, just write a cheque. Just, yeah (laughter), $11,000. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value.” He then “laughed hard for four seconds”, a disciplinary report said.
She was pursuing her master’s from Northeastern University‘s Seattle campus.
While dismissing officer Daniel Auderer from the Seattle police department, interim chief Sue Rahr said his “cruel comments and callous laughter” had caused deep pain to Kandula’s family. This, she said, had damaged the public’s trust in police.
On the day of the accident, the police vehicle had hit Jahnavi while driving at more than 119 kmph to attend a drug overdose case. Auderer was the officer tasked with assessing the incident and the comments were made while on a call with another official. In the bodycam footage, Auderer had remarked: “Yeah, just write a cheque. Just, yeah (laughter), $11,000. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value.” He then “laughed hard for four seconds”, a disciplinary report said.
