New Delhi: A video has surfaced on the social media platform where a US policeman could be heard laughing while reporting a death of an India student in Seattle drawing serious criticism to the cop.
An investigation has been launched into Seattle police union leaders after the officer was caught on camera laughing and joking about an Indian woman who was hit by a police patrol car killed in January this year, reported The New York Post.
In the video, Officer Daniel Auderer can be heard discussing the investigation into the crash involving graduate student Jaahnavi Kandula, who was killed by his colleague, Officer Kevin Dave killed on January 23. The 23-year-old was a master’s student on the Seattle campus of Northeastern University.
In the clip, Seattle Police Officers Association Vice President Daniel Auderer, in a call with the union president, said, “She’s dead” before bursting into laughter and describing Ms. Kandula as a normal person”.
Humiliating and insensitive as it appears, the cop said “Yeah, just write the check. Eleven thousand dollars,” before he busted into laughs. The clip ended with him saying: “After all, she is 26 years old, she has limited value,” was wrong about her age.
Jaahnavi Kandula, a 26 year old masters student at Northeastern University’s Seattle campus was k!lled when a Seattle City Police car ran over her. Officer Kevin Dave was driving it.
Now, listen to how Detective Daniel Auderer, Vice President of Seattle Police Officers Guild… pic.twitter.com/eismKhFY7V
— saloni🇮🇳 (@salonivxrse) September 13, 2023
Police Satements Clarification
The Seattle Community Policing Commission (CPC) released a statement Monday following the release of the video, calling the conversation between Mr. Auderer and his colleague “heartbreaking and shockingly insensitive.”
“Seattle residents deserve better from a police department charged with fostering community trust and ensuring public safety,” the PCC added. Meanwhile, the Seattle Police Department, which released the video “in the interest of transparency,” said it would not comment on the matter until the Office of Police Accountability completes its investigation into the incident.
Ms. Kandula From Andhra
Notably, Ms. Kandula, a resident of Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh state, died after being hit by a Seattle Police patrol car in South Lake Union. The Seattle Police Department said in a statement that the officer driving a marked patrol SUV was traveling north on Dexter Avenue North when he and the Seattle Fire Department responded to a “priority call.”
According to the press release, the pedestrian was crossing from east to west on the pedestrian walkway when he was hit by the vehicle. Auderer initially reported that the officer was driving his vehicle at 50 MPH and that he did not “lose control.”
However, a subsequent police investigation revealed that the car was traveling at 74 MPH when it hit Ms. Kandula. Jaahnavi Kandula is a student at Northeastern University’s South Lake Union campus and is set to graduate with a master’s degree in information systems this December.
