Seattle police officer recorded on body camera laughing about Northeastern student’s death fired by department

The Seattle Police Department officer who was heard on body camera footage last year laughing and joking about the death of a Northeastern graduate student was fired July 17, officials confirmed to The News. 

Interim Chief of Police Sue Rahr terminated the officer, Daniel Auderer, after an internal investigation by the Seattle Police Department, or SPD, found that he violated the department’s professionalism policy, SPD told The News July 18. In body camera footage released by the department in September 2023, Auderer was recorded laughing and saying that 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula, a graduate student at Northeastern’s Seattle campus, had “limited value” after she was fatally struck by a police cruiser in January 2023.

In an internal email to the department confirmed by The News, Rahr said that Auderer’s “cruel comments and callous laughter about [Kandula’s] tragic death” caused pain to her family and “immeasurable damage” to public trust of SPD and law enforcement officials across the world. 

“This case has been covered extensively in the public, has garnered international media and diplomatic attention, and I am confident that everyone in this organization has had the opportunity to learn about the case and hear for themselves the officer’s words,” Rahr wrote in the email, noting that it is “unusual” for a police chief to explain the reason behind a termination to the department. “I am choosing to share the outcome of this case with all of you because the far-reaching impact of the officer’s actions reflect on all of us, not just as members of the Seattle Police Department but on the profession of law enforcement.”

Auderer, who was hired by the department in 2008, made the crude remarks while on the phone with Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mark Solan the day after Kandula’s death. Kandula was struck by SPD officer Kevin Dave Jan. 23, 2023, while walking in a crosswalk, according to an incident report. 

During the phone call, which Auderer unintentionally recorded on his body camera, Auderer said that Kandula was “a regular person” and suggested “[writing] a check … $11,000, she was 26 [sic] anyways, she had limited value.”

Auderer’s remarks resulted in international outrage and received widespread scrutiny from the Northeastern community, prompting a response from Northeastern’s Chancellor and Senior Vice President of Learning Ken Henderson, who called Auderer’s actions “callous and insensitive.” 

Auderer was reassigned to a non-operational position in October 2023, SPD told The News at the time. In January, Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability, or OPA, found that Auderer violated SPD’s policies of professionalism and biased-based policing. 

In her email to the department, Rahr said she had to balance “intent versus impact” when deciding whether to terminate Auderer, adding that Auderer intended the conversation with Solan to be “private” and that he was engaging in “gallows humor.”

“Gallows humor is a common coping behavior among those who routinely witness traumatic events,” Rahr wrote. Merriam-Webster defines “gallows humor” as humor that “makes fun” of life-threatening or serious situations. “Most of us in law enforcement have engaged in gallows humor from time to time,” she said.

Rahr also said that Auderer is “well-regarded, if not beloved,” by his peers and superiors. 

“He has done many positive and noteworthy things during the course of his career. I expect that many of you will disagree with my decision, and perhaps be angry,” her email reads. Auderer’s colleagues wrote letters of support for the officer amid the investigation into his conduct, according to a disciplinary action report, or DAR, produced by SPD and obtained by The News. 

According to OpenOversight, a database that provides public data about law enforcement, Auderer has been the subject of 29 OPA complaints since 2014. The complaints include allegations of misuse of force and biased policing, and 14 of them resulted in sustained findings or recommendations for supervisory action. 

In the DAR, Rahr wrote that the decision to terminate Auderer included consideration of his previous violations of the professionalism policy. In 2018, the officer reportedly “ridiculed” a subject after she told him she was unable to follow his instructions due to a medical condition. In 2017, Auderer pretended to be a pizza delivery person while helping arrest a subject even though he was off-duty and outside of his jurisdiction, Rahr wrote in the DAR.

“Thus, the insensitivity you demonstrated in this case cannot be characterized as a one-off,” Rahr wrote in a letter to Auderer notifying him of his termination. “There is evidence that your lack of professionalism has not been confined to instances in which you thought you were speaking privately.”

In her email to the department, Rahr said she has had conversations with community members who she described as “very ‘pro-police’” who thought the “dehumanizing laughter” was “more outrageous and disturbing than the death of Ms. Kandula.”

“Our government gives police officers the authority to deprive people of their liberty and in the most extreme circumstances, their life,” Rahr wrote. “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 Ms. Kandula’s life displayed a cruel mockery of the sanctity of her life. That is a betrayal of that sacred trust.”

According to the DAR, Auderer had two hearings with SPD leadership to defend himself from misconduct allegations — one with Rahr and one with former SPD Chief Adrian Diaz, who stepped down in May amid controversy surrounding allegations of rampant sexual and racial discrimination in the department, PBS reported. 

In the meetings, Auderer and his representatives from the Seattle Police Officers Guild defended the officer of bias allegations, saying that Auderer did not know Kandula’s “name, race or ethnicity” and was laughing at the “absurdity of the situation,” according to the DAR. 

“[The representative] acknowledged all of the media attention and public outcry this case generated but argued that ‘clicks and complaints are not evidence’ that [Auderer] engaged in biased-based policing,” the DAR reads. Rahr agreed that Auderer did not violate the policy and said she would take steps to overturn OPA’s finding on that allegation. 

In his hearing with Rahr, Auderer told her that he was “born” to be a SPD officer and loved the job, acknowledging that trust is the “most important aspect” of the work, according to the DAR. 

“Trust is gained in drips and lost in buckets: I’ve dumped my bucket over,” Auderer told Rahr, adding that he wanted to “refill [the] bucket drip by drip.” The report said Auderer issued a “heartfelt apology” in the hearing and said he wished he could “bear the pain” for Kandula’s family. 

Auderer previously told OPA that his comments were intended to mock lawyers that could be tasked with litigating the case and reiterated that he thought the conversation was private, according to the DAR.

Seattle Councilmember Tammy Morales released a statement July 18 saying Rahr made the right decision to fire Auderer but that it “shouldn’t have taken a year and a half to happen.” Morales also called for discipline of Dave, who was driving at 74 mph in a 25 mph zone when he struck Kandula, according to the incident report. 

Dave was issued a traffic infraction for negligent driving in March, but prosecutors announced in February they would not pursue criminal charges against him for Kandula’s death. In May, The Seattle Times reported that Dave was late in paying a $5,000 ticket related to the collision. 

Rahr said in the DAR that terminating an officer for violating the professionalism policy is rare but that the circumstances in the case are unique. 

“Your comments here were so derogatory, hurtful and damaging to community trust, that this case is unique, both in terms of the inhumanity of your comments and laughter, and in the devastating impact they have had,” she wrote to Auderer in his termination letter.