The investigation into the murder of University of Wisconsin junior Brittany Zimmermann re-entered the news in recent days, though unfortunately not for the right reasons. Instead, a media firestorm ignited after the weekly newspaper Isthmus reported that Dane County’s 911 Center failed to properly respond to a call from Ms. Zimmermann’s phone on the day of her death.
The facts, as we can gather, go as such: Ms. Zimmermann called 911 from her cell phone shortly before she was slain in her West Doty Street apartment April 2. A dispatcher at the 911 Center answered the call but hung up after apparently not being able to hear Ms. Zimmermann. The dispatcher then attended to other 911 calls and never dialed Ms. Zimmermann’s phone back.
A January 2007 memorandum from the Madison Police Department details quite clearly what a 911 dispatcher is to do after receiving a “hang-up” call from a cell phone. First, the dispatcher is to call the cell phone back. The dispatcher here did not. Second, if the hang-up call gives the dispatcher any reason to believe police resources are needed, he or she is to send the police to the spot the area the cell phone call came from. This again did not happen in Ms. Zimmermann’s case.
Despite these failures, 911 Center Director Joe Norwick largely defended his department’s handling of Ms. Zimmermann’s call in a press conference Thursday, insisting “I don’t think there’s anything to apologize for at this point.”
Madison Police Chief Noble Wray responded later in the day by saying “there is evidence contained in the call which should have resulted in a Madison police officer being dispatched.” Mr. Wray also revealed that the police department had ordered the 911 Center to conduct an internal investigation after Ms. Zimmermann’s murder, a piece of information Mr. Norwick did not volunteer at his press conference.
We admittedly do not know every fact surrounding this incident. Mr. Wray has not revealed the timing or contents of Ms. Zimmermann’s call, saying such information must remain confidential as the murder investigation moves forward. Certainly, any speculation as to whether a better response from the 911 Center could have saved Ms. Zimmermann’s life is premature.
Yet we’re deeply troubled by the obfuscation that has characterized Mr. Norwick’s handling of this controversy. He held his press conference only after the Isthmus news report came out and after he personally refused to discuss the call with the newspaper for weeks, citing a supposed police department directive not to discuss the fact that the 911 Center received a call from Ms. Zimmermann’s phone (which Mr. Wray denies). Mr. Norwick has also admitted the dispatcher who took the call from Ms. Zimmermann’s phone has been transferred to another county job (at the dispatcher’s own request), after earlier claiming the employee remained in the 911 Center.
Mr. Norwick will testify before the County Board Thursday, where he figures to be more forthcoming than he has been so far. Beyond that, we hope Mr. Norwick will show a bit of sympathy in light of the tragic circumstances of Ms. Zimmermann’s death. County Executive Kathleen Falk’s apology yesterday is a good start, but the 911 Center clearly still has many questions to answer regarding its performance on April 2.
