Tag: Jaahnavi Kandula

Police, public safety

“Write a Check for $11,000. She Was 26, She Had Limited Value.” SPD Officer Jokes with Police Union Leader About Killing of Pedestrian by Fellow Cop

By Erica C. Barnett

In a conversation with Mike Solan, the head of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, Seattle Police Department officer and SPOG vice president Daniel Auderer minimized the killing of 23-year-old student Jaahnavi Kandula by police officer Kevin Dave and joked that she had “limited value” as a “regular person” who was only 26 years old.

In the video, taken in the early morning after Dave hit Kandula in a crosswalk while speeding to respond to a call from a man who believed he had taken too much cocaine, Auderer says he has talked to Dave and he is “good,” adding that ” it does not seem like there’s a criminal investigation going on” because Dave was “going 50 [mph]—that’s not out of control” and because Kandula may not have even been in a crosswalk. Auderer added that Dave had “lights and sirens” on, which video confirmed was not true.

In fact, as we reported exclusively, Dave was driving 74 miles an hour in a 25 mile per hour zone and struck Kandula while she was attempting to cross the street in a marked and well-lighted crosswalk.

“I think she went up on the hood, hit the windshield, then when he hit the brakes, she flew off the car. But she is dead. No, it’s a regular person. Yeah, just write a check. Yeah, $11,000. She was 26 anyway, she had limited value.”—Seattle police officer Daniel Auderer, joking with police union president Mike Solan about the death of pedestrian Jaahnavi Kandula earlier that night.

“I don’t think she was thrown 40 feet either,” Auderer told Solan. “I think she went up on the hood, hit the windshield, then when he hit the brakes, she flew off the car. But she is dead.” Then Auderer laughed loudly at something Solan said. “No, it’s a regular person. Yeah.”

We have asked SPOG via email what Solan asked that made Auderer clarify that Kandula was a “regular” person, as opposed to another type of person Dave might have hit.

“Yeah, just write a check,” Auderer continued. Then he laughed again for several seconds. “Yeah, $11,000. She was 26 anyway, she had limited value.” At this point, Auderer turned off his body camera and the recording stops.

Joel Merkel, the co-chair of Seattle’s Community Police Commission, called the video “shockingly insensitive.

“I was just really struck by the casual laughter and attitude—this was moments after she was killed,” Merkel said. “You have the vice president of SPOG on the telephone with the president of SPOG essentially laughing and joking about the pedestrian’s death and putting a dollar value on her head, and that alone is just disgusting and inhumane,” Merkel said.

Rantz claimed Auderer had immediately “self-reported” his comments by filing his own complaint with the Office of Police Accountability (OPA). After this post went up, OPA confirmed that the initial complaint actually originated with SPD employee who reported the incident on August 2, not Auderer, whose letter is dated August 8.

Right-wing commentator Jason Rantz attempted to pre-spin the video as an empathetic response that included a bit of “gallows humor,” saying the comment was “being described as a ‘leak’ of the content to media members who are hypercritical of police.” Rantz claimed Auderer had immediately “self-reported” his comments by filing his own complaint with the Office of Police Accountability (OPA). After this post went up, OPA confirmed that the initial complaint actually originated with SPD employee who reported the incident to OPA on August 2—not Auderer, whose letter is dated August 8.

Rantz also claimed the two police union officials’ comments were meant to “mock city lawyers” who work on cases in which police officers kill or harm civilians, which, Merkel says, “doesn’t make it any better and possibly even makes it worse! Because [in that case] you have SPOG complaining or mocking or joking about police accountability, which is really at the heart of the consent decree.”

Last week, US District Judge James Robart lifted the majority of a federal consent degree over SPD that has been in place since 2012, finding the department in full compliance with the portions of the agreement that dealt with use of force and bias-free policing, while maintaining federal oversight of the departments crowd-control and accountability policies. The city is currently locked in contract negotiations with SPOG. The city’s most recent contract with SPOG erased or neutralized reforms the city council, which included now-Mayor Bruce Harrell, passed in 2017.

Although Robart has said he has no authority to get involved in SPOG negotiations, Merkel said he was encouraged that he also said he “felt he had the jurisdiction to impact the contract to the extent that it affects accountability” during last week’s court hearing in which the judge largely terminated the agreement.

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PubliCola requested videos and documents related to the collision through the ordinary public disclosure process several months ago and has been receiving installments through the regular public disclosure process.

SPD did not respond to a request for comment. Half an hour after this post went up, the department posted the video on its website, along with a statement. According to the post, an SPD employee “identified” the video “in the routine course of business” and alerted their supervisor; when the video made its way to Police Chief Adrian Diaz’s office, the post says, his office sent it to the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) for investigation. Again, Auderer’s “self-report” came nearly a week after the initial OPA complaint

“As others in the accountability system proceed with their work, we again extend our deepest sympathy for this tragic collision,” SPD’s blog post says.

Auderer has been on the police force for 12 years and has been investigated by OPA for dozens of allegations, including several that involved violence against members of the public. In many cases, OPA has sustained, or upheld, the complaints.

In one incident, Auderer and his brother—a police officer for another jurisdiction—pulled a person out of their apartment without identifying himself as a police officer, failed to inform him of his Miranda rights, and did not report the incident to his bosses. Auderer was suspended for four days for that incident. In another, he chased down someone who was urinating in public and tackled him onto the concrete, injuring him. (Auderer later claimed he was trying to keep the man from running into traffic, which the investigator called “a logical stretch.”

“Indeed, this is not the first time that OPA has had such concerns. [Auderer] had numerous cases over the last two years in which it was alleged that he was unprofessional.”—Office of Police Accountability investigator

Many other complaints about Auderer involved alleged lack of professionalism. In one case, he threatened to break a person’s arm if he reached for his keys, asked if he was mentally ill, and failed to put a seat belt on him while he was handcuffed in the back of Auderer’s patrol car. Although OPA effectively dismissed the complaints in that case by giving Auderer a training referral, the investigator expressed concern with Auderer’s “general approach to this incident, his demeanor, and the way he interacted with the Complainant. Indeed, this is not the first time that OPA has had such concerns. [Auderer] had numerous cases over the last two years in which it was alleged that he was unprofessional.”

In another case, which was sustained, Auderer appeared to mock a woman who said she was developmentally disabled and had cognitive challenges that made it difficult for her to remember specific instructions during a DUI test. He then accused her of lying about being a veterinary nurse, suggesting she wasn’t capable of holding such a complicated job. “I know you usually get a reaction out of people, but you’re not going to get a reaction out of me,” Auderer told the woman, who appeared to be responding calmly and reasonably. He then informed another officer that she was “220,” code for mentally ill, in her presence, and said, “You also need to go see your mental health professional and I think you know that.”

Several other complaints against Auderer involved what appeared to be overzealous investigations of driving under the influence, such as a case in which he “effectuated an arrest” by another officer of a dead-sober man who briefly swerved his car because he was eating a hot dog. “I very much empathize with the subject who suffered through a Kafkaesque experience,” the OPA investigator wrote.

The King County Prosecutor’s Office has not yet decided whether to prosecute Dave in the case, which is under criminal investigation.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Police, public safety

Video Confirms that Officer Was Going 74 MPH, Did Not Have Siren Running When He Struck Pedestrian
A shoe found at the collision site.

By Erica C. Barnett

Content warning: This post contains descriptions of a violent, fatal traffic collision and images of a vehicle involved in that collision.

Video from the body-worn camera of Seattle Police Department officer Kevin Dave shows Dave accelerating to 74 miles an hour and failing to turn on his siren as he approached the intersection where he struck and killed pedestrian Jaahnavi Kandula earlier this year. The King County Prosecutor’s Office, which is still deciding whether to charge Dave with a crime, provided the video and other documents in response to PubliCola’s records request.

PubliCola reported earlier this year, based on records we obtained through a separate request, that an SPD analysis concluded Dave was driving up to 74 miles an hour and could not have avoided Kandula, nor could Kandula have gotten out of the way, at that speed. The posted speed limit in the area is 25 miles an hour.

“I fucked up.”—Seattle police officer Kevin Dave, recorded on body-worn video after the collision

The video, which includes a clear shot of Dave’s speedometer, shows Dave going through several red lights and accelerating to 74 miles an hour before turning his wheel slightly and, in almost the same instant, striking Kandula, who can be seen briefly on the video as she passes over the windshield of Dave’s SUV.

The video also shows that Dave briefly “chirped” his siren a few times before he approached the intersection of Thomas St. and Dexter Ave. N but at no point had his siren running consistently. The audio from the body-worn camera indicates Dave may have turned his siren on in the instant before he struck Kandula.

In a statement on January, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz said Dave was “clearing intersections with his siren” immediately before the collision.

The Seattle Police Manual says that officers engaged in emergency driving, as Dave was, must use “audible signals when necessary to warn others of the emergency nature of the situation.” In its policy on vehicle pursuits—another situation when officers might drive above the posted speed limit—the manual says officers must “use their sirens continuously to warn others of the emergency nature of the situation.”

The video also shows that Dave accelerated quickly, going from 4 to 74 miles an hour in just 12 seconds.

PubliCola is not posting the entire video; however, in the interest of transparency and access to the content described in this article, we have created a short clip of the video that begins shortly after Dave leaves SPD’s West Precinct and includes the moment of the collision. It is not graphic, but it is extremely disturbing. Please consider carefully before watching.

PubliCola also obtained three recorded statements from witnesses who saw Dave strike Kandula. In one of the recordings, the witness says he saw a police car approaching at a high speed, then heard a loud thud as the car hit Kandula. This witness did not initially mention hearing a siren. “I saw a police car coming, maybe two blocks away, and then I heard a loud sound,” he said, adding later that the reason he knew it was a police car was because “I saw light.”

“Usually when you hear that noise of a collision, of a car hitting something—a curb or something, another car—you hear brakes beforehand. Like, you hear screeching brakes and then you hear a crunch or whatever. But this time, there was no brake sound at all. It was just the sound of the front of the car hitting something.” 

The interviewer asked the witness twice  to describe what he heard, then asked explicitly if he heard a siren before Dave struck Kandula. “I believe I did,” the witness replied, but added, “I don’t remember” any details about it.

“I think what threw me off,” the witness continued, “was that usually when you hear that noise of a collision, of a car hitting something— a curb or something, another car—you hear brakes beforehand. Like, you hear screeching brakes and then you hear a crunch or whatever. But this time, there was no brake sound at all. It was just the sound of the front of the car hitting something.” 

Another witness said she heard Dave chirping his siren intermittently before he struck Kandula.

In the moments after the collision, the video shows Dave calmly calling in the incident and immediately attempting CPR until other officers arrive to take over. Speaking to another officer minutes after the collision, Dave said, “She was in the crosswalk; she saw me. She started running through the crosswalk —I slammed on my brakes—instead of staying back where she should.” Later, Dave is crying and distraught, telling one officer he is “not okay” and muttering, “I fucked up” to another as officers try to comfort him.

“There’s nothing for me to do right now but sit. That is the fucking worst thing,” Dave says later, while sitting in the passenger seat of another officer’s SUV. “You just have sit. So many questions that are unanswered, so many questions.”

Dave’s body-worn video includes a dispatcher describing the 911 call to which Dave was responding, making it clear that the person who called for help was conscious and staying on the phone with 911 until medics arrived

After the collision, Diaz said Dave was responding “as an EMT to a priority 1 emergency call,” implying that Dave was rushing to deliver life-saving emergency care. Subsequent reporting by PubliCola revealed that the caller had, in fact, used too much cocaine and was “freaking out” but lucid and standing outside his apartment as he waited for medics to arrive.

Photos taken in the aftermath of the collision, also provided in response to our records request, show that the impact cratered the front of the SPD SUV Dave was driving, crushing its hood and shattering the windshield. The photos and video show a debris field that included Kandula’s clothing, shoes, backpack, and art supplies, including a notebook that was crushed under the wheel of Dave’s SUV.

Police, public safety

Seattle Police Officer Was Driving 74 MPH When He Hit and Killed 23-Year-Old Pedestrian
Overhead view of the intersection where SPD officer Kevin Dave struck and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula in a crosswalk in January
Overhead view of the intersection where SPD officer Kevin Dave struck and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula in a crosswalk in January

By Erica C. Barnett

CONTENT NOTE: This story contains graphic descriptions related to a fatal traffic incident. 

Seattle police officer Kevin Dave was driving 74 miles per hour immediately before he struck and killed 23-year-old student Jaahnavi Kandula in a marked crosswalk at the intersection of Dexter Ave. and Thomas St. in January, according to documents obtained by PubliCola. The report says Dave hit his brakes less than one second before impact, striking Kandula at a speed of up to 70 miles per hour. The speed limit on Dexter, where Dave was driving an SPD SUV, is 25 mph.

“The speed at which Ofc. DAVE was traveling did not allow [Kandula] or him sufficient time to detect, address and avoid a hazard that presented itself,” an SPD analysis of the collision concludes.

According to the Transport Research Laboratory, the fatality rate for a collision at 70 miles and hour is close to 100 percent.

“Had Ofc. DAVE been traveling 50 MPH or less as he approached the intersection and encountered [Kandula] and Ofc. DAVE and responded in the same manner, this collision would not have occurred,” SPD’s forensic analysis of the collision concludes. That analysis estimates Dave was driving 70 mph on a road with a high level of car and pedestrian traffic, including many crosswalks.

“I heard a siren approaching,” a witness said.” I saw her … start to move faster as though, like, ‘I need to get out of the street, there’s a siren coming. And then I heard a loud thud.” According to SPD’s analysis of the incident, “it is believed that she was attempting to reach an area of perceived safety.”

“[A pedestrian’s expectations when crossing a street are that they will likely encounter traffic traveling at speeds near the posted speed limit,” the report says. “A driver’s expectation of a pedestrian in a crosswalk and the likelihood of a pedestrian being seen by a driver in the crosswalk are heightened.”

According to SPD’s vehicle inspection report after the crash, Dave struck Kandula so hard that his hood crumpled—sustaining a long gouge from her elbow at the point of contact—and smashed his windshield. After hitting her, Dave got out of the car to get his EMT equipment, but had to force the passenger side door open because the car’s fender was pushed back, obstructing the door. Kandula’s AirPods flew into the air during the collision; one was retrieved almost 100 feet down the street.

Image of damage to the Ford SUV SPD officer Kevin Dave was driving when he struck and killed 23-year-old student Jaahnavi Kandula in January.
Damage to the Ford SUV SPD officer Kevin Dave was driving when he struck and killed 23-year-old student Jaahnavi Kandula in January.

A witness described Kandula walking into the intersection, then attempting to run. “I heard a siren approaching,” the witness said.” I saw her … start to move faster as though, like, ‘I need to get out of the street, there’s a siren coming. And then I heard a loud thud.” According to SPD’s analysis of the incident, “it is believed that she was attempting to reach an area of perceived safety.” Once she was in crosswalk, Kandula had “little time to assess her options to respond to the threat” given the speed the car was going, the report says.

As we reported exclusively earlier this week, SPD has referred Dave’s case to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to determine whether to press charges against Dave. According to the reports obtained by PubliCola, Dave appears to be living in Arizona, where he worked briefly as a  police officer and loss prevention officer, according to reporting by DivestSPD, before SPD hired him in 2019. He received his police certification on June 12, 2020.

The incident report quotes Dave telling a sergeant who responded to the scene that Kandula “was in the crosswalk, she saw me, she started running through the crosswalk. Slammed on my brakes. Instead of staying back where she should before crossing, she just zips,” then made a motion with his hands from left to right.

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The Seattle Police Department has said that Dave was responding “as an EMT” to an overdose nearby when he struck Kandula. Separately, the department has also suggested that he needed to be present to ensure the safety of first responders, because people who overdose on opiates can be violent or belligerent when they regain consciousness. As we’ve reported, the call actually came from a person who was “freaking out” because he used too much cocaine, and who was conscious, lucid, and standing outside his apartment building when medics from the fire department arrived.

The report details the minutes leading up to the collision. At 8:01, a dispatcher reported that someone had called in to report that they thought they were overdosing on cocaine. At 8:04, Dave reported he was en route to the call. At 8:05, the dispatcher updated Dave and another officer responding to the call that “the person overdosing is calling it in himself. … He wants to stay on the phone with us until officers arrive.” Two minutes later, Dave struck Kandula in a crosswalk.

Seattle law allows an officer responding to an emergency to “exceed the maximum speed limits so long as he or she does not endanger life or property, but says that exemption doesn’t “relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway nor from the duty to exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian.”

In response to questions from the Community Police Commission about Dave’s use of “emergency” high-speed driving when responding to the 911 call, Police Chief Adrian Diaz said Dave was “responding to assist the Seattle Fire Department with an overdose according to established interdepartmental protocols.”

Seattle law allows an officer responding to an emergency to “exceed the maximum speed limits so long as he or she does not endanger life or property, but says that exemption doesn’t “relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway nor from the duty to exercise due care to avoid colliding with any pedestrian.”

The law also requires emergency vehicle operators to “use audible signals when necessary to warn others of the emergency nature of the situation.” The report notes that Dave had his emergency lights on and was “chirping” his siren at intersections but did not have his siren “activated consistently.”

Police, public safety

Case of Cop who Killed Pedestrian in Crosswalk Referred to King County Prosecutor
The intersection of Dexter and Thomas, where police officer Kevin Dave struck and killed 23-year-old student Jaahnavi Kandula in January.

By Erica C. Barnett

The Seattle Police Department, which could soon be released from a federal consent decree imposed in 2012, has been noticeably silent about the outcome of its internal investigation into officer Kevin Dave, who struck and killed a pedestrian, Jaahnavi Kandula, in January while on his way to the scene of a drug-related 911 call nearby.

However, PubliCola has confirmed that SPD has referred Dave’s case to the King County prosecutor’s office, which is reviewing the case and will decide whether to charge Dave with a crime. According to the prosecutor’s office, it’s unlikely a decision will come before July.

SPD declined to respond to questions; a spokesperson said the department had “no updates or timelines in regards to the investigation of this case.”

The department has claimed that the officer, Kevin Dave, was responding “as an EMT” to an overdose; separately, both SPD and the Seattle Fire Department have said the reason Dave needed to get to the call quickly is that people coming out of opioid overdoses can behave erratically and violently, threatening the safety of first responders.

However, the audio of the 911 call, which PubliCola received through a records request, revealed that the caller had used cocaine, not opiates, and was breathing heavily but calm when he called 911 to report that he was “freaking out.” He met medics from the fire department outside his apartment and declined additional care.

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The King County Prosecutor’s Office was not immediately able to say whether SPD’s referral was statutory—meaning the department was required by law to send it to prosecutors—or a case where the department believes the officer may have committed a crime. SPD declined to provide any information about the case, saying they had “no updates.”

Back in February, the Community Police Commission asked Police Chief Adrian Diaz to explain why Dave engaged in “emergency” (high-speed) driving; Diaz responded that Dave was “responding to assist the Seattle Fire Department with an overdose according to established interdepartmental protocols.”

In a followup letter on June 9, prompted in part by a KUOW report revealing that few officers have taken the emergency driving courses required by a new state law loosening restrictions on police pursuits, the CPC’s co-chairs asked Diaz for details about how many officers have completed emergency driving courses and to explain why the department’s requirements for emergency vehicle operations (what Dave was purportedly doing when he struck Kandula) are lower than its policies for pursuing a person who is attempting to flee.

SPD previously confirmed that it was conducting a criminal investigation into Dave. Earlier this year, the department “categorically” rejected PubliCola’s public disclosure requests for documents related to the investigation, citing the fact that the investigation was still ongoing. A spokesperson did not respond to our question about when we could file another request without it, too, being “categorically” rejected. Since the referral to the prosecutor’s office suggests that SPD’s internal investigation may be complete, PubliCola has filed another records request.

Dave is still employed by SPD.

Drugs, Police, public safety, Transportation

Full 911 Audio Sheds More Light on SPD’s Explanation for Deadly Crash; Bill Expanding Police Pursuits Passes Legislature

1. Unredacted audio of the 911 call to which Seattle police officer Kevin Dave was allegedly responding when he struck and killed student Jaahnavi Kandula in January further confirms that the caller had used cocaine, not opiates, and was breathing heavily but calm when he called 911 to report that he was “freaking out.” PubliCola obtained the audio through a records request.

Police Chief Adrian Diaz has said Dave was responding “as an EMT” to provide medical aid at a Priority 1 overdose call when he hit Kandula. Dave is certified as an EMT, but there is no evidence beyond Diaz’ statement that he was responding as a medic rather than a police officer, and the 911 call itself contradicts that claim.

SPD has also said police need to be present when Fire Department medics are reviving someone from an opiate overdose in order to provide backup if the person is violent when they come to and to keep people from stealing items or intervening while SFD medics are occupied with rescue breathing and other lifesaving measures. However, the full recording of the 911 call makes it clear that the caller had used cocaine, not opiates, and told the dispatcher his symptoms were “starting to go away” by the end of the six-and-a-half-minute call.

In the first moments of the recording, the caller, a man in his 20s, told the dispatcher, “I did cocaine and I don’t know if I’m having an overdose. I think I’m over-amped.” After being transferred to a dispatcher for Medic One, the Seattle Fire Department’s emergency medical response team, the caller added that he was “trying not to freak out” and was standing outside his apartment building. “Do you think you’ve overdosed?” the dispatcher asked. “I looked it up and I think so,” he said. “I’m extremely anxious,” the caller added, and “shaking a little bit.”

The original dispatcher then kept the man on the line, telling him to breathe and getting more information. “Am I going to get in trouble?” the man asked. “Oh, no,” the dispatcher responded. “I’m still just kind of freaking out right now, but it’s starting to go away,” the caller said. By the end of the call, the dispatcher and caller were joking about the weather. “At least it’s not raining today, right?” the dispatcher said. “That’s one way to look at it, yeah,” the caller responded.

SPD is doing an internal investigation into whether Dave was acting within SPD policy when he hit Kandula in a marked and lighted South Lake Union intersection. Three months after the crash, the department has not said when it will conclude its investigation.

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2. The state senate gave final approval Monday to a bill that will lower the standard of evidence required for police officers across the state to initiate vehicle pursuits, sending the bill to Governor Jay Inslee’s desk.

Under SB 5352, sponsored by Senator John Lovick (D-44 Lake Stevens), officers will only need to have a “reasonable suspicion” that a driver has committed a violent crime or is driving under the influence. The bill reverses a 2021 change in state law that raised the standard for most offenses, apart from DUI, to a higher “probable cause” standard, which requires more evidence, with the aim of reducing pursuits overall.

The policy change nearly failed to move forward earlier this session, when state house leaders declined to bring their version of the bill to the floor for a vote ahead of a key deadline, prompting state senate leaders, in a dramatic move, to bring the bill to the floor even though it had never received a hearing in that chamber.

“I am asking you to vote no because the people trusted us, and they are disappointed that we are rolling back something that they thought put us on the first step to accountability.” —Debra Entenman (D-47, Covington)

Inslee is expected to sign the bill. “I think we need to move this needle, I think that’s where the public is,” he said in early March. 

The house approved the bill on April 10, with opposition from both Republicans who wanted it to go further and allow more pursuits for non-violent offenses like auto thefts, and from Democrats who say the current policy, which allows fewer pursuits, is saving lives.

Many Democrats view the reversal as a step back for police accountability in Washington. Before the house floor vote earlier this month, Representative Debra Entenman (D-47, Covington) noted that the bill reversed recommendations made by legislative task force created in 2020 in response to nationwide protests over racial injustice.

“I am asking you to vote no because the people trusted us…and they are disappointed that we are rolling back something that they thought put us on the first step to accountability,” she said. 

Last year, the legislature rolled back another 2021 law that prevented police from using force to prevent people from walking away from investigative stops, also known as Terry stops.

A previous version of the pursuit bill included a 2025 sunset date, but that’s no longer in the bill. Some of Washington’s largest police departments, like Seattle and Tacoma, already have policies in place that require a higher standard of evidence to pursue a suspect.

—Erica C. Barnett, Ryan Packer