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911 Center fails again
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For the second time this year, the Dane County 911 Center neglected to dispatch police officers in a timely manner before a homicide at Lake Edge Park Nov. 3.
According to a statement released by the Dane County Public Safety Communications, two noise complaint phone calls were received on the Public Safety Communication’s non-emergency line at 9:18 p.m. and 9:34 p.m.
Police were not sent to the scene until approximately 11 p.m. after receiving an emergency call from a cell phone reporting a dead body. The body was identified as Mark Gregory Johnson, 37, of Madison.
“The call was called at a non-emergency number but … the 911 Center did pick up the telephone and process the call, but they didn’t follow the procedures as they should have,” said Ald. Larry Palm, District 15.
Last spring, the 911 Center was under fire for the mishandling of a phone call from University of Wisconsin junior Brittany Zimmermann’s phone on the day of her murder in her apartment at 517 W. Doty St.
In September, then-911 Center Director Joe Norwick resigned from his position, and the center is still seeking a full-time replacement.
Palm said there were an ample number of officers on duty the evening of Nov. 3 when the calls were received indicating excessive noise and escalating violence.
During both noise complaint calls, the 911 dispatcher agreed to send police to the scene of the incident.
“The irony is that the new policy adapted by the 911 Board wasn’t followed,” Palm said. “The first call is logged, and (after) the second call, police are dispatched. It is ironic that for both phone calls, the police said they would respond.”
According to an audio release of the phone calls received by the 911 Center regarding the incident, “loud, obnoxious” noises were heard in the park. A female and two males were identified.
Josh Wescott, spokesperson for Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, said some calls do not result in automatic dispatch.
“Calls are prioritized by the dispatcher based on important components and the availability of officers,” Wescott said, adding not all cases are responded to.
Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain said he was unable to comment on the 911 calls until the department fully reviews the situation.
“Lake Edge Park is part of a new Park Watch program,” DeSpain said. “Through the MPD — in conjunction with the Madison Park Department — citizens are trained to issue a phone call when they see things in the park that may need attention.”
DeSpain said there is still an internal investigation of the 911 Center.
“Clearly, the management understands the incredible pressure at this moment,” Palm said. “They have clearly not been able to reform underlying issues.”
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WHAT THE F—-?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
So was this just a homeless bum then?
Do you reporters actually ask anyone questions anymore, or do you just reprint press releases?
Just another example of how the MPD has its priorities screwed up. You can arrest hundreds of students just fine but you can’t stop a murder when you get two calls ahead of time….absolutely unacceptable and ridiculous. If events like this are called in and aren’t even responded to how are we supposed to feel safe in this city?
“The irony is that the new policy adapted by the 911 Board wasn’t followed,” Palm said. “…It is ironic that for both phone calls, the police said they would respond.”
That’s not irony.
@11:09 The call came into 911 dispatch for Dane County which is not run by MPD. MPD was never informed that there was a need for officers at the park. Besides, why does everyone think that the MPD should stop ticketing people for underage drinking or speeding (which are illegal) when there’s a murder in the city? Just because you have gotten a ticket, or know someone that has, for drinking or w/e doesn’t mean the MPD isn’t doing their job.
I have a friend in the 911 Center in Madison and have had the privilege of seeing how it all works and getting to listen to our fine dispatchers work. When a call comes into the 911 Center it is placed in a call log by the 911 Operator and then is sent to another operator whom contacts the officers and sends them to the call, however, if there are no officers available (this occurs when it is a busy night, when there are not enough officers on duty or when the officers do not notify the 911 Center that they are available to go to the next call) the operator dispatching the officers must wait until there is one available. In this case the operator had to wait till 2 officers were available, as procedure states with this type of call. In the article Noble Wray says he believes there were officers available that night, I would like to know why he doesn’t know if there were officers available. The answer is there probably were officers available but until the officers notify the 911 Center that they are available to take the next call the 911 Center has their hands tied and must wait till one or in this case 2 are available. I invite each and everyone of you who doubt the hard work and dedication of these 911 Operators to sit in one evening with them and discover the stress they go through trying to get officers to realize the severity of the calls and the necessity to notify them they are available. I also invite chief Noble Wray to comment on exactly where his officers were that night, how long were they on their previous call and why none were available to take this call.