Seattle police officer put on leave over sexist, racist slurs against neighbor

A Seattle police officer was put on leave Friday as officials, for the second time this month, called for cultural reform within the department – this time over audio of the white officer using sexist and racist slurs in a dispute with his Chinese American neighbor.

Audio published by the Stranger appears to depict Seattle police Officer Burton Hill peppering his neighbor with a barrage of explicit, sexist and racist insults in an August 2022 argument over the neighbor allegedly leaving food scraps outside that could have harmed Hill’s dog.

In the audio clip, apparently recorded by the neighbor after Hill knocked on her door at their Kenmore condominium complex, the officer uses derogatory terms for women and Asian people, repeatedly calling the woman “dumb” and “stupid.”

The neighbor has since filed a complaint with Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability, which is investigating Hill’s alleged conduct, according to Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz.

“Although I will ultimately defer, as I am required, to the outcome of OPA’s investigation, racist language is completely unacceptable and is inconsistent with the high standards the department sets for its employees,” Diaz wrote Friday.

“While I’m grateful the complaint was filed with OPA, not knowing about this for one year causes me concern,” Diaz continued, noting that he has initiated a review of Hill’s arrest and investigation history in response to the incident.

Seattle elected officials expressed a concern for the culture within the SPD after the audio was published, echoing past calls for increased accountability.

“While city law prevents me from commenting on the details of the event undergoing OPA investigation, racism has no place in our police department and in our city. Full stop,” Mayor Bruce Harrell said in a statement, commending Diaz for acting “quickly and decisively” when the audio became public.

Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales also called for “a plan of action” from the Police Department.

“The reality is that no other city employee would be excused from this behavior, where they can laugh and joke about killing somebody, spit racist slurs, and continue taking home a six-figure paycheck,” Morales said in a statement.

Morales was also among the first officials to call out SPD when another issue of an officer’s conduct involving an Asian woman came to light last week.

In that incident, body-camera footage captured Daniel Auderer, vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, joking with the union’s president, Mike Solan, after Officer Kevin Dave fatally struck 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula with his car while speeding through South Lake Union on the way to a report of an overdose.

Body-worn camera footage recorded Officer Daniel Auderer, vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, joking about and downplaying the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old student who was killed by a speeding police cruiser in January. On the other end of the call is SPOG President Mike Solan.

The video from the Jan. 23 crash shows Auderer, a drug-recognition officer assigned to determine whether Dave was under the influence, calling Kandula a “regular person” with “limited value” and saying the department should “write a check” in response to her death.

While the union said Auderer’s comments were satirizing the legal process that would take place after Kandula’s death, the audio sparked international outrage and calls from local officials to increase oversight of SPD and SPOG.

“Burton Hill, Daniel Auderer, and Kevin Dave all remain on the job today. To date, none of these officers have faced consequences or even been put on leave,” Morales said Friday, shortly before Diaz announced that Hill was placed on administrative leave.

An SPD spokesperson declined to comment on Auderer’s or Dave’s statuses with the department.

The Community Police Commission earlier this week had asked Diaz to place Auderer on leave and for the chief to sit down with members of the commission and the city’s other two police accountability organizations, the OPA and Office of Inspector General, to discuss concerns over SPD culture.

Co-Chairperson Joel Merkel on Friday said the CPC has not heard back from the chief and “will be engaging” the SPD over The Stranger’s revelations.

“It speaks to the cultural issues we keep raising,” Merkel said of the newly publicized audio. “It feels never-ending at this point.”

Meanwhile, Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda said in a social media post that Hill’s alleged treatment of his neighbor is the product “of a culture which supports abuse of power with impunity.”

Mosqueda also called the conduct “all the more alarming given the rise of hate crimes against our (Asian American and Pacific Islander) neighbors.”

Just this week, a man was charged with a hate crime after allegedly vandalizing Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience – smashing nine windows in an apparently racially motivated attack the week before. Seattle police were criticized for reportedly taking more than 45 minutes to respond.

Harrell said he’s concerned about the uptick in attacks against people of Asian descent and wants to restore trust between Seattle police and city residents.

“This comes at a time when AAPI communities in Seattle and around the country have seen an unacceptable increase in hate-filled attacks,” Harrell said. “I understand and recognize the community outrage – and disappointment – that recent incidents have inspired.”