Daniel Auderer says accountability groups targeted him

Fired Seattle cop claims accountability agencies targeted him over union role

Former Seattle police officer Daniel Auderer says the Office of Police Accountability and the Community Police Commission purposefully leaked information in an attempt to weaken the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

SEATTLE - Former Seattle police officer Daniel Auderer says the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) and the Community Police Commission (CPC) purposefully leaked information in an attempt to weaken the Seattle Police Officers Guild, in what he says will be his only interview after he was fired in July.

Auderer was on The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH/MyNorthwest.com Monday, where he said media coverage of him was intentionally negative because of his "union activism," and claims the police department’s accountability partners — specifically the OPA and CPC — were trying to get him fired to weaken the Seattle Police Officers Guild, where he serves as vice president.

"I would have never thought, in any part of my mind, that I would ever be terminated from the Seattle Police Department, for anything," said Auderer in an interview with Rantz. "And in this particular case, no, I was absolutely shocked."

Auderer was fired by Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr for comments he was caught making on an infamous body camera video, taken minutes after another Seattle police officer struck and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula while she was in a crosswalk.

"She is dead," Auderer laughed in the video. "Just write a check […] $11,000. She was 26 anyway, she had limited value."

Auderer was on a phone call with SPOG President Mike Solan, though his part of the conversation has never been revealed in detail. Solan told Office of Public Accountability (OPA) investigators in Sept. 2023, they were remarking on "how the city is going to have to pay out a ton of money to the family." Auderer is the vice president of SPOG.

"I thought I was going to be disciplined," said Auderer. "I was expecting the ‘high end’ of the discipline due to the media coverage this received. The allegation itself normally doesn’t ever have a real, high threshold for discipline."

Auderer has maintained the joke was taken "out of context," and that he was actually mocking city attorneys. He claims the joke was merely "gallows humor."

Gallows humor

Rantz asked if Auderer was insulting Kandula during the infamous phone call.

"Absolutely not," said Auderer. "I’ve spent too much time and seen way too many things to mock anyone’s death, and I’m horrified that her family’s continually pounded by this story. It’s … it weighs on me, and it’s something that will never, ever go away."

Interim Chief Rahr fired Auderer in July, saying that despite the "gallows humor" nature of their jokes, the fact that the body cam video became part of public record has done "immeasurable damage to the public trust of police in the Seattle community, across the nation, and around the world."

"The actions [of] this individual police officer have brought shame on the Seattle Police Department and our entire profession, making the job of every police officer more difficult," wrote Rahr at the time.

Auderer told Rantz that gallows humor is exceedingly common in the field, and not just in the police department.

"It is going on right now in patrol cars, ambulances, [emergency rooms], law offices, newsrooms — it’s going on right now, as we speak," said Auderer. He claims gallows humor is "very healthy."

"This happens every day, this type of mocking and humor. If you don't do it, you have to stuff things deep inside, and you're going to end up committing suicide or becoming an alcoholic," said Auderer. He says that, rather than making an officer callous, gallows humor makes them "very sensitive."

Auderer's $20 million tort claim against the city of Seattle

Auderer has filed a $20 million tort claim against the city of Seattle for damages, claiming the city "leaked false information" and wrongfully terminated him due to his position in SPOG.

Auderer also claims that OPA's investigation into a complaint of unprofessionalism was not conducted correctly, saying his request for rapid adjudication — used by officers when they suspect they have violated policy — was denied by the OPA "within 15 minutes" of submitting it. He also said:

"[It was] an attempt to weaken the union, if they can take out a vice president — for something like this, it does weaken […] the union substantially."

Auderer told Rantz that the same day the professionalism complaint was filed, he started getting media inquiries. "It became evident very quickly that it was an attack on the union," said Auderer.

Auderer has been under investigation by the OPA in the past, for allegations of improper use of force, false arrests and violation of professional standards.

Auderer was not involved in the death of Kandula. The officer responsible, Kevin Dave, was not charged but instead fined a $5,000 traffic infraction for second-degree negligent driving. Dave failed to pay it in May 2024 and is currently contesting the fine. He is scheduled for a hearing on his contested traffic infraction in September.