“It’s no joke when police reveal their true feelings of contempt for the people they are sworn to protect”
Statement regarding Seattle police officers’ recorded conversation about the police killing of pedestrian Jaahnavi Kandula
Wednesday September 13, 2023
The Washington Coalition for Police Accountability, an organization led by families who’ve lost loved ones to police violence, released the following public statements regarding Seattle police officers’ recorded conversation joking about a fellow officer’s killing of pedestrian Jaahnavi Kandula, 23.
“When we hear a recording of police officers joking about Jaahnavi Kandula’s death, we can’t help but imagine all of the unrecorded conversations of police officers belittling our dead loved ones. It’s no joke when police reveal their true feelings of contempt for the people they are sworn to protect. Our hearts are broken for Ms. Kandula’s family as the actions of Seattle police officers make their excruciating pain even worse.” - Annalesa Thomas, whose son Leonard Thomas was killed by Lakewood police in 2013. A colleague of the police officer who killed Leonard Thomas bragged about his “frickin’ million-dollar shot.”
“Seattle’s police department is just coming out from under a decade of federal oversight, so who is going to hold them, or other local police departments, accountable for multiple instances of misconduct? That’s why we’re working with state legislators to give the Attorney General the power to hold police departments accountable for systemic patterns of misconduct. Only then can law enforcement restore trust with the communities they serve.- Dr. Gary Damon, Jr., Interim Executive Director of the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability. WCPA supports HB 1445, sponsored by Sen. Drew Hansen.
Police in Washington State have killed more than 300 people since 2015—roughly 1 in 6 of all homicides in the state, according to homicide data from the WA State Department of Health.
WCPA is led by families who have lost loved ones to police violence. WCPA became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2022. Its mission is to create safer communities in Washington state by promoting the implementation of policies that reduce violence and increase police accountability.
