Cop caught on bodycam joking about dead woman run over by Seattle police

globalnews.ca:

A Seattle police officer is under investigation after he was caught on video joking about a young woman who died after being struck by a police vehicle and suggested her life had “limited value.”

Officer Daniel Auderer, who is also the vice president of the city’s police union, inadvertently left his body camera running after responding to the scene of an accident in which another officer, Kevin Dave, struck and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula.

The accident occurred on Jan. 23 as Dave was responding to a call about an overdose. He was driving 74 mph (about 120 km/h) when he collided with Kandula, who was in a crosswalk at the intersection of Thomas Street and Dexter Avenue North, the Seattle Times reported. Her body was flung over 100 feet (30 metres).

Kandula, who was a master’s student at Northeastern University, died from her injuries.

As a drug-recognition officer, Auderer was called to the scene to determine if Dave was under the influence when he crashed into Kandula. After finishing his analysis, Auderer left the area in his police cruiser and called Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG).

The roughly two-minute conversation between the two union leaders was released to the public by the Seattle Police Department “in the interest of transparency.”

Only Auderer’s side of the conversation is audible in the body-camera video, which captures him laughing multiple times while discussing Kandula’s death.

At one point, Auderer tells Solan that he doesn’t believe Kandula’s body was thrown several feet due to the collision.

“I think she went up on the hood, hit the windshield, then when he hit the brakes, flew off the car,” he said.

“But she is dead,” he adds before pausing, then breaking out