Daniel Auderer biography: 13 things about Seattle, Washington cop

Daniel Auderer is an American police officer from Seattle, Washington, United States. As a drug-recognition officer, he was assigned to determine whether his fellow Seattle Police Department officer Kevin Austin Dave, then 35, was under the influence on January 23, 2023.

That day, Dave drove a Seattle Police Department car that hit Jaahnavi Kandula of Bengaluru, Karnataka, India while she was crossing a street in Seattle, which later led to her death. After Audurer finished his routine analysis, he called Mike Solan and they talked for 2 minutes.

Solan is the Seattle Police Officers Guild president. Auderer is the vice president.

During the conversation, which was recorded, Auderer laughed several times. At one point, before bursting out laughing, he said, “She is dead.”

“No, it’s a regular person,” Auderer continued. “Yeah, just write a check, $11,000,”

“She was 26 anyway,” Auderer said of Kandula, misstating her age. “She had limited value.”

Auderer was 26 years older than Kandula. Here are 13 more things about him:

1. He was born in Lacey, Washington.
2. He is an alumnus of Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, USA.
3. On May 29, 2010, he and 14 other Seattle Police Department officers allegedly used excessive force to arrest Brian Scott Torgerson, then 44, who was suffering a mental health crisis in First Hill, Seattle. Torgerson’s family filed a civil rights lawsuit and in August 2013, the city of Seattle settled for $1.75 million.
4. Between 2014 and 2023, he was the subject of 29 complaints to the Office of Police Accountability, three of which resulted in sustained findings.
5. In 2015, he punched and choked a homeless man at the hospital. He had no justification for the use of force, according to the Seattle Police Department’s Force Review Board.
6. On August 30, 2016, he was suspended without pay due to an allegation related to discretion and authority.
7. On June 7, 2018, he was given a written reprimand due to lack of professionalism.
8. In 2020, his annual salary as a police officer was $129,244.69 with an overtime pay of $19,326.86.
9. In 2021, his annual salary as a police officer was $114,880.00.
10. On January 23, 2023. he said Dave was not out of control.
11. On August 2, 2023, the Office of Police Accountability received a complaint from a Seattle Police Department employee about comments he made on January 23, 2023. On August 8, 2023, he submitted a letter to the SPOG, defending his actions and requesting an expedited employee misconduct investigation.
12. On September 11, 2023, the Seattle Police Department released the video of his conversation with Solan on January 23, 2023.
13. He was 49 years old when the SPOG released a statement on September 15, 2023, apologizing for the video of him laughing on n January 23, 2023 while noting that the video did not show the full context of the situation.