Seattle Councilmember Morales statement on firing of Seattle police officer for vile remarks

Seattle City Councilmember Tammy J. Morales(District 2) released the following statement after the Seattle Police Department fired Officer Daniel Auderer for making vile remarks about Jaahnavi Kandula shortly after she was killed by SPD:

"Chief Rahr made the right decision. At the same time, it's crucial we acknowledge that our work is far from done.

In September 2023, when this video was first made public, I called on then-Chief Diaz to come to the Council and the community to describe, in real terms, how he plans to regain control of his department and fix the culture. To date, we've heard nothing. The city deserves an explanation and a plan.

This is not the only high-profile incident of police misconduct that has diminished trust in the Seattle Police Department.

• We still don't have a discipline decision on Kevin Dave - the SPD officer who was going nearly triple the speed limit without his siren on when he hit and killed Jaahnavi. There has also been troubling reporting about issues he had before he was hired by SPD, reporting that he may have not had a valid Washington State driver's license, and reporting that he missed the deadline to pay the fine issued to him by the City Attorney's Office for negligent driving related to the crash.
• As of this week, it has been a year since video was published by the Seattle Times showing a fake tombstone officers left in an SPD break room mocking the death of Damarius Butts, a 19-year-old who was killed by police officers, along with a Trump 2020 flag.
• And since these incidents, the Seattle Police Department has been hit by lawsuit after lawsuit alleging gender and racial discrimination within the department.

This decision is a step in the right direction. However, it shouldn't have taken a year and a half to happen. For officers to be able to do their jobs well, with greater trust from the community, we need an actual plan to address the deeper problems with culture and accountability in SPD, and that's what I will continue to push for," said Councilmember Morales.