“We need partners in law enforcement, not adversaries” State Sen. Manka Dhingra said on Friday, in response to the remarks of a Seattle police officer about the death of Jaahnavi Kandula.
On Jan. 23, 2023, Seattle Police Officer Kevin Dave was driving 74 miles per hour in a 25 mile an hour zone. He did not have his sirens on when he hit and killed Kandula, who was walking in a crosswalk.
Jaahnavi Kandula
Kandula, 23, was a graduate student from India, and working to support her mother who lives in India.
In the hours after the collision, Officer Daniel Auderer, vice president of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild, called Mike Solan, president of the guild. In that call—captured on Auderer’s body camera—you can hear him laughing about Jaahnavi’s death. He said, ‘Yeah, just write a check. $11,000. She was 26 anyway. She had limited value.’
“Incidences like this are precisely why there is a lack of trust between the community and law enforcement,” said Dhingra in a statement. “Regardless of whether or not this was meant to be a private conversation, the attitude about the death of a young woman is appalling.”
The Consulate General of India in San Francisco issued a statement on Wednesday, calling the handling of the death of Jaahnavi Kandula “deeply troubling.”
In addition to contacting authorities in Seattle, Washington state, and in Washington D.C., the Consulate is calling for a “thorough investigation” and for action to be taken against those involved in her death, according to a social media post.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said in an open statement to the Kandula family, “I want to be clear that the comments made by one person do not reflect the feelings of our city or the communities that call it home. We recognize that Jaahnavi’s death is a loss for our whole community… Her life had immeasurable value, and any sentiment, shared by one person, that expresses otherwise does not represent the very real feelings of heartbreak that our entire city has over the loss of your child.”
The video was flagged by an Seattle Police Department (SPD) employee, and according to a written statement on its online blotter on Sept. 11, “appropriately escalated their concerns through their chain of command to the Chief’s Office which, following a review of the video, referred the matter to OPA [Office of Police Accountability] for investigation.
The recording did not capture Solan’s remarks.
Neither Auderer nor Solan responded to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment.
However, a conservative talk radio host on KTTH-AM, Jason Rantz, reported that he had obtained a written statement Auderer provided to the OPA. In it, Auderer said that Solan had lamented the death and that his own comments were intended to mimic how the city’s attorneys might try to minimize liability for it.