On Wednesday, April 2,
On Monday, Nov. 3, 37-year-old
As has been widely publicized, the Dane County 911 Center failed to dispatch authorities to the scenes of both these crimes prior to the killings. In the Zimmermann case, a phone call was placed to 911 from the UW student’s cell phone prior to her death. And over an hour before Gregory’s body was found at
“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,” Madison Ald. Larry Palm, District 15, told The Badger Herald, adding a new policy since April was not followed.
In both these cases, leaders of both
The problem lies primarily with the 911 Center, which is run by
From here on out, it is time for Falk to be the one held accountable. An external audit of the 911 Center found dispatchers were overworked, and its former director is now out the picture. With the Dane County Board of Supervisors doing its part Monday in allotting funding for nine additional 911 Center staffers — three more than Falk proposed in her initial budget — any more mistakes fall on the shoulders of Falk herself.
As
Falk’s call for reform should be applauded, but it’s also time to get it right. While prompt and adequate responses to the calls in the Zimmermann and Gregory cases may not have necessarily saved either of their lives, the fact that these calls were mishandled in the first place is beyond unacceptable.
A 911 service is perhaps the most important public service
Enough is enough, and it is time for Falk to be held accountable for the 911 Center’s egregious mistakes. The count is 0-2 against her. Three strikes and, well, you know.
Tom Schalmo ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism.