SEATTLE: The US officer who made light of Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula's murder by a police SUV this year in a bodycam video has been removed from patrol duties, according to authorities. The Seattle Police Department (SPD) on September 29 confirmed that Officer Daniel Auderer “has been administratively reassigned to a non-operational position”, The Seattle Times reported.
A recording from Auderer's body camera in which he is heard saying that Kandula's life had "limited value" and that the city could "just write a cheque" led to an investigation into the SPD traffic squad member and vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild. The video clip prompted international condemnation with leaders, lawmakers and advocacy groups calling for Audrer’s dismissal from the police service.
Defending himself in a letter to Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) earlier this month, Auderer wrote that the comments were not made with “malice” and hard heart. Stating that he “lamented” Kandula’s death, he wrote that it was unfortunate that her death would “turn into lawyers arguing ‘the value of human life”.
After receiving his letter, the SPOG released a statement claiming that the dialogue had been misrepresented and that Auderer had mocked the young woman's life-appraising lawyers during a phone chat with Guild President Mike Solan.
Last week, the Seattle’s Community Police Commission recommended that the officer under investigation for joking about Kandula’s death be placed on leave and his pay be withheld.