September 20, 2023 | CPC Letter to Chief Diaz Regarding Officer Discipline

PDF of Letter

CPC Co-Chairs' statement on Seattle Police Department officer's recently released body cam footage showing the officer laughing and making light of the value of a pedestrian's life moments after an SPD vehicle struck and killed her in January, 2023. "The people of Seattle deserve better."

September 11, 2023 News Release (PDF)

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                            

September 11, 2023                                                                           

The Seattle Community Police Commission (CPC) Co-Chairs responded to the body camera recording of SPD Detective Daniel Auderer’s comments on a telephone call – reportedly to SPOG President Mike Solan – in the moments after an SPD vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian during an emergency response earlier this year.

“The body camera footage of SPOG Vice President Daniel Auderer on a phone call – reportedly with SPOG President Mike Solan – laughing and making light of the value of a pedestrian’s life moments after a Seattle Police vehicle struck and killed her during an emergency response earlier this year is heartbreaking and shockingly insensitive.

“After Detective Auderer is heard confirming that the pedestrian died, he is laughing in response to the person on the other end of the call. He joked that her life was only worth $11,000 and ‘had limited value’.

“The reported explanation that he was mocking lawyers does not make this unprofessional and inhumane conduct any better because it shows – in what was believed to be a private conversation with SPOG leadership – a callous dismissiveness toward police accountability systems that are at the heart of the City’s efforts to reform the Seattle Police Department and come out from under the Consent Decree.

“This speaks to the concerns that the Seattle Community Police Commission has repeatedly raised about elements of Seattle Police Department culture and SPOG resistance to officer accountability measures included in the landmark 2017 Police Accountability Ordinance. The people of Seattle deserve better from a police department that is charged with fostering trust with the community and ensuring public safety.

“Especially in light of this video, the hard work toward ensuring that the Seattle Police Department reflects the values of the community it polices, and embraces transparent accountability, will remain a top priority for the Seattle Community Police Commission.”

- Co-Chairs Reverend Harriet Walden, Reverend Patricia Hunter, and Joel Merkel

The Seattle Community Police Commission is part of the accountability system that works together in different ways to promote effective, constitutional policing, including the Office of Police Accountability (OPA) and the Office of the Inspector General for Public Safety (OIG). The Seattle Community Police Commission is mandated to also provide ongoing, community-based oversight of the Seattle Police Department and the police accountability system.