After a lengthy investigation and labor process, interim Chief Sue Rahr has fired the officer and union leader caught joking with Seattle Police Officer Guild president Mike Solan about the “limited value” of the life of a student hit and killed by a speeding cop.

Jaahnavi Kandula was 23.

Rahr announced the termination of Seattle Police Department veteran and former East Precinct officer Daniel Auderer this week.

CHS reported here last September as the officer’s body worn video captured the phone conversation with Solan as Auderer was responding to the South Lake Union scene where officer Kevin Dave struck and killed Kandula while speeding 74 MPH to a reported overdose. Kandula was thrown 100 feet.

Auderer started as a rookie in the East Precinct in 2009 and served as a “drug recognition expert” frequently called to collisions across the city. He has served as vice president of SPOG under Solan.

The firing comes as Rahr stepped in to lead the department in May after Mayor Bruce Harrell removed Adrian Diaz as chief and replaced him with the former King County Sheriff.

The city has hired a firm to investigate gender discrimination and harassment claims against SPD leaders including Diaz. The investigation opened after four female SPD officers filed a claim against the department alleging sexism and a hostile work environment. Additional lawsuits and allegations have grown around Diaz’s leadership. In June, Diaz announced publicly that he is gay but denied the decision was tied to the allegations as he seeks a new start leading a police force in a new city.

Seattle’s police union has been engaged in a years-long protracted negotiation over a new contract with the city. An agreement finally arrived earlier this year with a new deal that grants major raises for the city’s police force while adding few new accountability requirements for the department. The deal retroactively covered 2021, 2022, and 2023 with a series of raises that gave officers an immediate 23% boost in pay.

The Harrell administration said negotiations for 2024 “are ongoing with the assistance of a mediator appointed by the Public Employment Relations Commission” and suggested more reform measures “proposed by the City based on input from community partners and the federal judge overseeing the City’s Consent Decree with the Department of Justice” will be included in the final agreement.

In a statement on the termination announcement, the Community Police Commission said it hoped Rahr’s decision represented a “first step in firmly addressing the ongoing cultural issues at SPD.”

“This event has shone a light on existing issues within the department and Detective Auderer’s actions and behavior that evening serve as a reminder that we have a lot of work to do towards addressing the culture that tolerated that conversation in the first place,” the CPC writes.

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