In a conversation with Mike Solan, the head of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, Seattle Police Department officer and SPOG vice president Daniel Auderer minimized the killing of 23-year-old student Jaahnavi Kandula by police officer Kevin Dave and joked that she had “limited value” as a “regular person” who was only 26 years old.

In fact, as we reported exclusively, Dave was driving 74 miles an hour in a 25 mile per hour zone and struck Kandula while she was attempting to cross the street in a marked and well-lighted crosswalk.

  • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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    Seattle PD is fucking garbage.

    • They threw a bitch fit when the citizens got pissed they were tear gassing random people (including children) who were walking on the sidewalk and had nothing to do with the George Floyd protests or CHOP.

    • They were under federal observation for over a decade because they were responsible for multiple questionable deaths.

    • A ton of the force quit because they didn’t want to get vaccinated during COVID.

    • Recently they had a Trump flag with a Nazi symbol on it in one of their breakrooms that nobody took down.

    The list goes on and on. They need to dissolve the police union in Seattle entirely, and set a precedent. I’m not anti-police, but I am over their whiney bullshit and completely unethical behavior. Seriously, fuck Seattle PD.

    • Tujio@lemmy.world
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      Seattle PD is and has always been terrible. For a city with as little violent crime as we are, you would think that we would have a semi-competant police force. We aren’t Baltimore or Chicago or Memphis. We don’t need a violent, antagonistic, adversarial police force. Yet decade after decade, Seattle PD shows themselves to be the worst of the worst of violent white nationalists.

      SPD’s training standards are embarrassingly low. SPD’s staffing numbers are embarrassing low. Rookie cops make over $100k and the right-wing pundits say it’s not enough, while first-year teachers make $55k and the right-wing pundits say it’s too much. They blame the BLM riots and say that the city betrayed them, but the average person here had absolutely zero faith in them well before the riots. Most SPD officers don’t actually live in Seattle.

      Sorry if the second paragraph got a bit into unhinged-rant territory, but shit like this is infuriating. SPD is so clearly shit and needs to be purged.

      • Drusas@kbin.social
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        It’s partly because of how they’re trained, Killology, and partly because these are people policing us from outside of Seattle.

        If you live in the Seattle area, you surely know that a lot of people who don’t live in the metro area really resent Seattlites. They’re not really clear about why. I guess for being progressive.

        Not much of the police force lives in the city proper. So we’re being policed by outsiders who dislike us to begin with.

      • SoylentBlake@lemm.ee
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        State senators make $60k/yr.

        Over 50 SPD cops last year made over $250,000

        We aren’t getting what we’re paying for.

        Dissolve and restart the force using a different psych profile and ban the one currently used.

      • thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org
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        Something that will always be my first thoughts when I think of Seattle cops…

        Walking down 4th ave and a guy on the corner offers to sell me drugs (I got crack, coke, and smack?) I walked across the intersection and at the next block is a cop in a car waiting for the light to turn. I point at the dealer and tell the cop that guy just offered to sell me cocaine and heroin.

        His reply was that I should call 911

        wowzers.

        Then another memory I have is walking near Pike Place and two beat cops are walking towards me. I say hell to them and they give me dirty looks. Don’t say anything to me and look me up and down and then move on.

        Like really? WTF

      • Orphie Baby@lemmy.world
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        You keep saying SPD and I keep wondering how Space Patrol Delta sunk so low. It’s no wonder the top of the force turned evil and the B-team Power Rangers became the heroes we needed to stop them.

    • Drusas@kbin.social
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      You forgot about the part where they don’t respond to calls. Just a couple of days ago, a man was found dead at 10:00 a.m. The sound of shots fired had been reported at 3:00 a.m., but the police decided not to respond to that call.

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        A friend’s son was stabbed multiple times last year and they did nothing. He knew the guy’s name, or at least an alias, and had a picture because the guy had contacted him on social media to buy something, which is why they were meeting in the first place, and SPD was like, “wow that’s a bummer, I guess we could maybe arrest the guy if one of our officers happens to trip over him during their daily rounds of doing jack shit, but we’re not gonna actually look for him.” Apparently attempted murder with a side of robbery doesn’t warrant them removing their thumbs from their asses to do the bare minimum of investigation.

      • Ubermeisters@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        I work on Aurora and I’ve had the police literally tell me to stop complaining to them about the prostitutes and meth heads because they don’t care…

      • Noxy@yiffit.net
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        Marty Crane was just as much a bastard as the rest though. Regularly acted like he was above the law. Also constantly verbally and emotionally abused his kids.

  • Aloha_Alaska@lemmy.world
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    “No, it’s a regular person.”

    I’m speechless. I know the training draws a line between the police and everyone else, but for it to be right there in print, from someone high up the hierarchy…I’m stunned that they could be so callous with a life.

    It really is “us versus them,” isn’t it?

    • CptOblivius@lemmy.world
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      I am not aware of any place else where police refer to people as “civilians”. Usually that is reserved for military and not military. But in the US they think it’s borderline martial law.

      They really honestly believe there is a separation between them and “us.”. I believe this is the root of the problem.

  • admiralteal@kbin.social
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    Why do cops have the power to just routinely turn off their body cams?

    That should be limited to using the bathroom. If it gets turned off during regular duty, it should be presumed to mean something is being covered up because that is exactly what it means. There should be paperwork triggered every time it is turned off.

    • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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      They shouldn’t be able to turn it off ever, for any reason. If there is a privacy issue it needs to be dealt with administratively, and not at the discretion of individual officers. If they can turn it off then it defeats the entire purpose of wearing them in the first place in my opinion.

      • andrew@lemmy.stuart.fun
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        I think it’s actually worse than just defeating the purpose. The good ones will leave their cams on all the time and be more likely to be pushed out by the bad ones over something petty, with evidence.

    • _number8_@lemmy.world
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      they impose invasive drug tests on people [as an extremely minor, parallel example], they don’t deserve a fucking bit of privacy

    • Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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      Their badge ought to be a camera. If you aren’t running the camera, then you’re not a cop, your just a regular dude in a police officer costume.

    • constantokra
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      If you have to take a urine test they’re watching you pee, so they should just let the camera roll and deal.

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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    How the fuck do you say that a human life has “Limited Value”, and then not immediately have a “Are we the baddies?” moment

  • TacoButtPlug@sh.itjust.works
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    How is it police unions seemingly have more power than any other union? The writers are striking and that’s barely doing anything for them but the pigs? They just have to bat an eyelash and get what they want…

  • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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    Mike Solan purposely put his address as the east precinct so that he could vote in that district. He does not live in Seattle. That is a felony. The SPD willingly vote for a felon to head their union.

    I fucking hate SPOG.

      • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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        That was his voting address. That is not legal here. OPA (the committee that reviews complaints against the police and recommend disciplinary action) recommended it be criminally investigated since it is a class C felony. SPD of course ignored that recommendation completely.

        • Alien Nathan Edward@lemm.ee
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          SPD of course ignored that recommendation completely

          “Now, son, I don’t make the law. I just have 100% latitude to decide whether to enforce the law, several laws are written such that you can be convicted of felonies with only my testimony, and there are no consequences when I lie under oath.”

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            Not sure that I would call that strict considering he was purposely trying to affect an election where he does not live. He is not a police officer, BTW. He is a shithead who blamed January 6th on BLM protesters despite six SPD officers being part of it.

      • PickTheStick@ttrpg.network
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        Same here, but their true address is still held somewhere. It’s only the displayed address on a driver’s license that shows the police station/court. Listing it as their address for voting purposes probably is probably murky, and not explicitly allowed or explicitly illegal.

  • Cheers@sh.itjust.works
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    Give the guy that reported the conversation the raise of the guy(s) that were involved and didn’t report it. Also fire them. Reward the good behavior, punish the bad and we’ll stop saying ACAB.

    • PorkRollWobbly@lemmy.ml
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      Na, ACAB til we die. Policing should not exist as most crimes are a product of the existence those police uphold.

      • gimmelemmy@lemmy.world
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        I’m sorry, but are you saying rape, murder of a spouse, child abuse, etc. are somehow due to the existence of policing? Is there any way you can possibly make me believe that? Please try, if you can, 'cause otherwise I’m just gonna think that I read some MORE total nonsense on the intent today

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
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    Typical cop evil. I expect that “just a regular person” translates to “not somebody important enough to actually pose a legal threat.” That is, not a cop, reporter, politician, celebrity, etc.

  • Drusas@kbin.social
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    Seattle PD has been under a consent decree for the last decade for over-use of force and racist practices. The decree is about to end (and the PD is petitioning to end it early), and the problem has not improved. It’s gotten worse.

    There’s all this talk here (I’m a Seattleite) of how the police are trying to regain trust or are frustrated at the lack of trust, but they don’t take accountability for their actions.

    10% of all homicides in Seattle are committed by the police. They don’t show up when you report a shooting.

    I wonder why we don’t trust them.

    https://www.theurbanist.org/2023/09/08/op-ed-walking-away-from-the-empty-promise-of-seattles-consent-decree/

    https://komonews.com/news/local/north-seattle-suspicious-death-investigation-person-found-near-encampment-police-homicide-detectives-crime-murder-40th-street-4th-ave-motive-cause-of-death-shooting-stabbing-dead-victim-suspect#

      • Drusas@kbin.social
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        That’s (partly) why they got put under consent decree a decade ago! But somehow, it’s ending even though they haven’t improved.

    • Katana314@lemmy.world
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      Back in the 1920s, Germany generated the most vile, most iredeemable “easy villains” that could be killed en masse in any heroic fictional media with hardly any thought to issues of morality. When real world wars are too complicated, involving multiple sides with their own form of blame, an uprising of the fourth reich in modern days is an easy villain.

      I wonder if we’ve found a new one though.

  • some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org
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    In the video, taken in the early morning after Dave hit Kandula in a crosswalk while speeding to respond to a call from a man who believed he had taken too much cocaine, Auderer says he has talked to Dave and he is “good,” adding that ” it does not seem like there’s a criminal investigation going on” because Dave was “going 50 [mph]—that’s not out of control” and because Kandula may not have even been in a crosswalk. Auderer added that Dave had “lights and sirens” on, which video confirmed was not true.

    In fact, as we reported exclusively, Dave was driving 74 miles an hour in a 25 mile per hour zone and struck Kandula while she was attempting to cross the street in a marked and well-lighted crosswalk.

    • gimmelemmy@lemmy.world
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      It’s almost as if that cop has lost some of his humanity. Auderer, I mean. While this may be something that people can write off as “part of the job” it is unacceptable. Auderer needs to be put on indefinite mental health leave, and the rest of us need to have a long conversation about how we got here and what we’re going to do about it

      • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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        If I were to kill someone on the job while driving a company vehicle 3x the speed limit, ignoring protocol and several laws, I wouldn’t be put on indefinite paid leave, and I’m willing to bet that you wouldn’t either.

        It’s shameful that embarrassment is our path to any shred of accountability.

    • be_excellent_to_each_other@kbin.social
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      As an exercise for the reader, look for the sentence that is something like this every single time an article comes out about bodycam or other video footage after a controversial police event.

      This suggests a different sequence of events than the one Rantz outlined in his piece attempting to exonerate Auderer before the video became public today.

      You’ll almost always find one. TL;DR: When cameras are on cops, turns out they are shown to lie. A lot.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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    Can’t expect anything different from the police when both major parties will do nothing meaningful to hold them accountable. You want change? You have to vote for it.

    • umbrella@lemmy.ml
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      o yea, lets choose between geriatric fascism or decrepid neoliberalism that oughtta change eveything

          • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world
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            Might as well, really. Most people in this country experience no meaningful difference in their life regardless of who we elect.

            And they know it, which is why so many don’t bother.

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              That is the most privileged take I’ve ever seen. I know people who’ve had to move states because of transphobia.

              Does it even matter if it affects most people or just some people? If 10% of people need to flee their state or 37% go into poverty because of conservative laws, most people are still fine. That doesn’t make their situations acceptable.

              A cornerstone of socially left policy is standing up for minorities and fighting for them to have equal civil rights. By definition, a minority is not “most people”.

              If you consider yourself left of center, you need to do some introspection. You can’t write off a minority and still consider yourself on the left.

            • gimmelemmy@lemmy.world
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              Most people in this country don’t NOTICE the effect they experience based on who gets voted in. ftfy🙃

    • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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      It’s not about the voting, at least not directly. It’s about the cost of hiring and maintaining a police force, and the kind of person who would be willing to be a police officer for low pay, versus the type that would want high pay for the same position, and how that affects city budgets.

      • pulaskiwasright@lemmy.ml
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        High pay doesn’t help. There are a lot of very high paying police departments and they’re just as corrupt and violent as the others.

        • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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          There are a lot of very high paying police departments and they’re just as corrupt and violent as the others.

          [Citation required]

          • pulaskiwasright@lemmy.ml
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            LAPD pays almost $90K for officers training in the academy and it goes up from there. They have excellent benefits and an actual pension. Studen loan forgiveness and a bunch of other things. They get paid even more if they work night shifts or overtime.

            • Cosmic Cleric@lemmy.world
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              Yeah, but I’m guessing Los Angeles is an outlier salary wise?

              Also, think about it, 90k and you can die at any time, versus other corporate jobs that pay a lot more and death is not an immediate concern in your life.

              Takes two types of mindsets to take a police job that has a high risk of death. One where you want to help humanity, and the other where you want to control humanity for power sake.

              (Technically I’m assuming there could be a third type, the thrill seeker, but there’s many other career and recreational ways of getting that kind of adrenaline rush so I didn’t include it as one of the major types.)

              I’m assuming the ones who want to control humanity will take a lot less money for a job with that risk than the ones who just want to help humanity. We all seem to have some kind of threshold about when we stop wanting to help humanity and start taking care of ourselves.

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    If you want get really mad and/or have a reddit account you want banned, just check r/protectandserve.

    They’re lamenting how bad this makes them look, and how this will make policing harder.

    There are some who are even agreeing with the officer, about how these “remarks” shouldn’t get him fired.

          • It’s a joke but it’s also a real rebuttle. It’s weird. An in-law relative of mine became a cop. So, I guess since he’s not a total jerk he’s part of the 1%… And yet, he’s going to find himself either doing what he’s told or he’s going to find himself out of a job or out of life. It’s just too big of a gang for one person to break up. The union is another issue entirely.

    • Etterra@lemmy.world
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      It looks bad because it is bad. Unfortunately it’s just par for the course and nothing will change, because we live in hell.

    • kmkz_ninja@lemmy.world
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      Just got immediately banned there. Those mods are keeping a close eye on that thread, lol.

      There’s a disgusting amount of bootlicking in that thread. “I believe officer ‘whatshisname’ deserves a second chance” 🥺

  • BeautifulMind ♾️@lemmy.world
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    Ghoulish.

    Reducing the ‘value’ of a life to monetary terms just means it’s legal to kill them if you have the money.

    Also, that shit should be disqualifying in people supposedly sworn to uphold the law