A Seattle police officer who hit and killed a graduate student from India with his vehicle while responding to an overdose call in January 2023 has been fired, Seattle’s interim police chief announced Monday.

Interim police chief Sue Rahr wrote in an email to employees that she fired Kevin Dave after the Seattle Office of Police Accountability determined he had violated four department policies, including one requiring officers to be responsible for safely operating a patrol vehicle, in connection with the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, according to The Seattle Times.

“I believe the officer did not intend to hurt anyone that night and that he was trying to get to a possible overdose victim as quickly as possible,” Rahr wrote.

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“However, I cannot accept the tragic consequences of his dangerous driving,” she continued. “His positive intent does not mitigate the poor decision that caused the loss of a human life and brought discredit to the Seattle Police Department.”

Rahr’s announcement comes nearly a year after King County prosecutors announced they had declined to file felony charges against Dave due to insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dave was consciously disregarding safety when he struck and killed Kandula.

The Seattle City Attorney’s Office later issued Dave a $5,000 citation for negligent driving.

The Seattle City Attorney’s Office issued Dave a $5,000 citation for negligent driving. (iStock)

City prosecutors said Dave was driving as fast as 74 mph on a street with a 25-mph speed limit before hitting Kandula. Dave initially contested the ticket before recently agreeing to pay the fine, complete an eight-hour traffic safety course within a year and perform 40 hours of community service by Sept. 30.

Kandula’s death sparked outrage in the U.S. and India, particularly after another officer’s body-worn camera footage was made public. In the recording, that officer, Daniel Auderer, laughed and suggested Kandula’s life had “limited value” and the city should “just write a check.”

Diplomats from India called for an investigation and Seattle’s civilian watchdog found the comments by Auderer, who was a union leader, damaged the police department’s reputation and undermined public trust.

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City prosecutors said Dave was driving as fast as 74 mph on a street with a 25-mph speed limit before hitting Kandula. (Seattle Police Department / File)

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Auderer was eventually fired over the comments.

Kandula’s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Dave and the city, alleging that Kandula experienced severe emotional distress, pain and suffering before dying from her injuries. The family said it was asking for $110 million in damages, plus $11,000. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in September.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell shared some positive news for Seattle law enforcement.

According to a news release from Harrell on Tuesday, the Seattle Police Department received the highest number of applications in 10 years — more than 4,300 in 2024.

The city hired 84 cops last year and for the first time since 2020, the number of officers hired outpaced the number leaving. In 2024, 83 officers left the department but 84 were hired. The year before, 97 officers left the department and only 61 were hired. SPD reported 4,115 entry-level and 216 lateral applications in 2024, with the average total number of applications per day more than doubling.

More on MyNW: Seattle Police Department fires officer who hit and killed Jaahnavi Kandula

Harrell credited new recruiting approaches and higher pay for the boost in officers. According to the release, the department introduced electronic pre-employment background testing to keep applications moving. It also hired additional examination support staff, allowed candidates to take the agility test from home and improved candidate tracking and outreach.

The department noted there are seven steps for entry-level candidates to apply including submitting an application, completing a written test, taking a physical agility test, passing a background investigation, completing a medical evaluation and completing a polygraph assessment.

“We continue making strides towards creating the best police department to work for period,” Interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr stated. “With those improvements, we are just starting to see the results, with more than 20 new officers waiting to go to the academy and hundreds more just beginning the process.”

In April, MyNorthwest investigated what officers had to say as they were leaving the department. Of the more than a dozen SPD exit interviews in 2023 acquired by MyNorthwest, 100% were of officers who served more than five years with the department, 82% were from officers who served 11-15 years, 73% from officers who served more than 15 years and 64% came from officers who reached 20 or more years of service.

Four years after CHOP (Capitol Hill Organized Protest) usurped Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, officers were still reeling from the repercussions.

‘SPD is dying’: What Seattle police officers are saying during exit interviews

When presented with the question: What factors had a negative effect on morale in the department, Seattle police officers were nearly united in their responses.

“SPD’s political posture and city management in all categories,” one departing officer, a detective who’s been with Seattle for more than 10 years, said in response. “The morale and retention will never be achieved in the political climate of Seattle. SPD is dying and the command staff is along for the ride — watching it die.”

In total, 73% of obtained exit interviews cited city leadership as a reason for leaving. More than 80% cited staffing issues.

Now that SPD was able to hire more officers will it be able to keep them? Harrell is hopeful, stating in the release, “Since day one of my administration, officer recruitment and retention has been a major priority, and 2024’s net positive staffing — for the first time since 2019 — is a sign of progress, even as we recognize there is much more work to do.”

Contributing: Heather Bosch, KIRO Newsradio and Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X here and email her here.

In a significant development, a police officer from Seattle, U.S., who killed Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula in January 2023 when the patrol vehicle he was driving struck her, has been fired from the police department, officials said.

Kandula, 23, from Andhra Pradesh, was struck by a police vehicle driven by Officer Kevin Dave when she was crossing a street in Seattle on January 23, 2023. He was driving 74 mph (more than 119 km/h) on the way to a report of a drug overdose call.

Kandula was thrown 100 feet when she was struck by the speeding police patrol vehicle.

According to a report in The Seattle Times on Monday (January 6, 2024), Interim Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr said that she had fired Mr. Dave from the Seattle Police Department.

The report, citing an email sent by Ms. Rahr to employees, said she fired Mr. Dave on Monday after the Seattle Office of Police Accountability found he had violated four department policies.

“I believe the officer did not intend to hurt anyone that night and that he was trying to get to a possible overdose victim as quickly as possible,” Ms. Rahr said.

“However, I cannot accept the tragic consequences of his dangerous driving. His positive intent does not mitigate the poor decision that caused the loss of human life and brought discredit to the Seattle Police Department,” according to The Seattle Times report.

It added that the policies Mr. Dave failed to follow “include using emergency lights for an emergency response and being responsible for safely operating a patrol vehicle”, according to the copy of Ms. Rahr’s email.

The development comes months after another Seattle police officer Daniel Auderer was fired following his insensitive comments and laughter after Kandula’s death.

The Consulate General of India in Seattle had been working consistently with authorities and law enforcement officials to ensure justice in the case, with Mr. Auderer’s firing and now the action against Mr. Dave bringing a sense of closure and justice for Kandula’s family.

Consulate in touch with family

The Consulate had been in regular touch with Kandula’s family representatives and had said that it would continue to extend all possible support in ensuring justice for Jaahnavi and her family.

In a February 2024 post on X, the Indian Consulate in Seattle said that “On the recently released investigation report of the King County Prosecution Attorney on the unfortunate death of Jaahnavi Kandula, Consulate has been in regular touch with the designated family representatives and will continue to extend all possible support in ensuring justice for Kandula and her family.

“We have also raised the matter strongly with local authorities, including Seattle Police for appropriate redress. The case has now been referred to the Seattle City Attorney’s office for review. We await completion of Seattle Police’s administrative investigation and will continue to monitor progress on the case.”

Ms. Rahr was appointed as interim chief in May 2024 and in July last year, she had announced Mr. Auderer’s firing. However, decision about Mr. Dave’s action came in only now.

Insensitive comments

In bodycam footage released by the Seattle Police Department, Mr. Auderer was heard laughing after the deadly crash and had remarked “Uh, I think she went up on the hood, hit the windshield, and then when he hit the brakes, flew off the car… But she is dead.”

After making these comments, Mr. Auderer “laughed hard for four seconds,” the department’s Disciplinary Action Report said.

Mr. Auderer’s body-worn camera also captured him as saying, “Yeah, just write a check. Just, yeah (laughter). $11,000. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value.”

When asked at an Office of Police Accountability interview about his comments that Kandula had “limited value”, Mr. Auderer had claimed he was “ridiculing the city attorneys who would be tasked with litigating a potential wrongful death lawsuit.”

Ms. Rahr had said in an internal email, seen by PTI, that the hurt Mr. Auderer’s words inflicted on Kandula’s family “cannot be erased. The actions (of) this individual police officer have brought shame on the Seattle Police Department and our entire profession, making the job of every police officer more difficult.”

Ms. Rahr had said that as the leader of the organisation, it is her duty to uphold the high standards necessary to maintain public trust.

“For me to allow the officer to remain on our force would only bring further dishonour to the entire department. For that reason, I am going to terminate his employment,” she had said in the internal email about Auderer.

“Our government gives police officers the authority to deprive people of their liberty and in the most extreme circumstances, their life. This authority rests on the public’s trust that officers will demonstrate respect for the sanctity of human life. The officer’s laughter and callous comments about the “limited value” of Kandula’s life displayed a cruel mockery of the sanctity of her life. That is a betrayal of that sacred trust. Not only did his comments irrevocably break the public’s trust in the officer, individually, but they caused extreme damage to the public’s trust of the entire Seattle Police Department,” Ms. Rahr had said.