After the brutal murder of Madison student Brittany Zimmermann almost two years ago, the Madison 911 Call Center has come under a lot of criticism. Attacked by an intruder in her apartment, a call was placed to 911. The operator, claiming to have heard nothing, hung up and did not follow procedure by following up on the call. Because of this, the police arrived at the scene later to find Zimmermann already dead. The center has a not-so-glowing record, and is now trying to implement a measure not authorized by the county’s Public Safety Communications Center Board. Having neither the time nor the staff to answer every call, the center spends $33,000 per year trying to keep up; it now is trying to implement an automated answering machine to field the excess calls it handles every year. The city, however, will pay for neither a person nor a machine to handle the calls. Currently, the center refuses to handle the calls and no machine is in place, so the city and the center are at a standstill. By leaving the call center unattended, the city of Madison could save itself a few dollars, but also greatly endanger the lives of its citizens.

The staff of Madison’s 911 Call Center handles scores of cases a year, most of which are extraneous or parking violation calls. Because this requires extra manpower, it costs the center to transfer the calls to Madison’s parking authority. For the upcoming fiscal year, however, the city refuses to foot this bill. If the call center cannot obtain its funds, it will be unable to provide staff and will have to turn to the county to implement an automated answering system that will redirect non-emergency calls. Madison attorney Michael May filed a restraining order Friday to stop the city of Madison’s 911 Call Center from instating the automated call system, and, until at least March, nothing is in place.

There are relatively few calls that are emergencies, but those that are can be life-or-death situations. Currently, if you make a 911 call, a voice says “If you are calling regarding a parking violation in the city of Madison, say parking or press five,” although right now no one is fielding the calls. If Madison’s 911 Center chooses to put an automated system in place, it is possible that mistakes could happen in situations where they could be deadly. If an emergency a victim is panicked and unable to think clearly, and mistakenly presses five, he or she is carried to a recording, not a real person, and is unable get help. However, callers are even more in danger right now, when pressing five carries a caller nowhere. While putting an automated system on duty would be dangerous, with the city refusing to pay costs, having no system is even more so.

Overall, the center handles 13,000 parking calls per year, according to WISC-TV. The automated service would cost the city $66,000, and building an entirely new 911 Call Center to accommodate the calls would cost about $100,000. The city collects about $5 million a year in parking fees, so any of these options is a cost-effective alternative. By far the most safe, though, is providing amply for the center, though the city is reticent to shell out even $33,000 to continue to maintain the center as is. In the end, though, someone has to answer the phone, and the money has to come from somewhere. If the city continues to stonewall the center, then the county will have to pony up even more money for a less safe alternative. If the city consents to the $33,000 expenditure, it will be maintaining an already understaffed and over-stressed center that has made mistakes in the past and could continue to do so.

The city of Madison is taking all legal options to stop the 911 Center from implementing its automated system, and acting to maintain the status quo. But refusing to acknowledge the need for a well-staffed call center does not help anyone. According to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, the city will not pay, but “will be responsible and will find a way to make it work and then probably what we’ll end up doing is charging back the county for our costs.” Foisting costs on the county and leaving such an important service under-funded does not exactly sound responsible — far from it. Although the 911 Center does deal with many calls that tie up its lines, providing it with enough resources to maintain a larger staff would enable it to answer personally all calls that come into the center. In times of emergency, it is most important to know that there is a safe and caring service should it be needed. By expanding and revitalizing Madison’s 911 Call Center, the city would give its residents peace of mind. By getting by on a non-existent or poorly functioning system, citizens of Madison cannot really be sure they have someone to count on. And no cost is too high for providing safety.

Taylor Nye ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in English, French and Spanish.