Seattle Union Official Fired

“limited value”

Daniel Auderer, a Seattle police officer and vice president of their union, was terminated for comments he made regarding a pedestrian who was struck and killed by another police officer.

Auderer was speaking on a cellphone to the local union’s president when he stated that the deceased woman’s life was of “limited value.” The recording also included him laughing.

He had unintentionally recorded himself.

“She is dead,” Officer Auderer tells Officer Solan, and then bursts out laughing after a pause. “No, it’s a regular person,” Officer Auderer says, adding: “Yeah, just write a check — $11,000. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value.” (NYT)

NYT reports that Seattle Police Chief Sue Rahr said such behavior caused, “immeasurable damage to the public trust of police in the Seattle community, across the nation and around the world.”

She ruled out the comments as “gallows humor” a coping mechanism sometimes used by first responders faced with human tragedy.

Auderer’s words and their sentiments could be several things at once: vile as well as proof of a damaged professional culture which then tips into toxic coping. People employ negative behaviors to cope all the time. And laughing inappropriately is also recognized as a possible stress response.

The far larger problem is that some Seattle police officers have reduced the population they protect to categories of which one is “limited value.” Auderer was just caught expressing the sentiment out loud.

Does firing Auderer appease the crowd and ignore the crisis?

If Chief Rahr’s action is not backed up by an attempt to cure the underlying cultural issue than the death of Jaahnavi Kandula is doubly senseless.