Handling of Jaahnavi Kandula’s death brings criticism from Seattle leaders

Seattle elected officials are calling for increased police accountability after release of footage of an officer joking following the death of a woman struck and killed by another officer’s vehicle.

In footage released Monday, officer Daniel Auderer, vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, joked about the death of 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula after she was fatally struck in January by officer Kevin Dave’s vehicle in a South Lake Union crosswalk.

After responding to the collision, Auderer accidentally captured himself on body camera footage talking on the phone to Mike Solan, president of SPOG, calling Kandula a “regular person” and suggesting the department “write a check.”