Union Steps Up For Criticized Dispatcher

The union representing an unnamed Dane County (Wisc.) 911 dispatcher says the woman did everything correctly when handling a hang-up 911 call from a university student who was later found stabbed to death. At the same time, the county released a heavily-redacted 40-page report detailing how the woman’s 911 call was handled. Madison police say Brittany Zimmermann was killed April 2nd in her apartment, and that she made a cellular 911 call, apparently for help. Her body was later found by her fiancé at mid-day. Her murder and the 911 call have generated fear among residents and finger-pointing among the involved agencies, who refused to release details on the timing of any of the events. County officials offered confused information on whether the involved dispatcher was transferred to other duties after the incident, and there was information the dispatcher had previously requested a transfer to another job entirely. There is also confusion over whether there were any sounds during the call indicating a person needed help, disagreement between the county and union over whether procedures were properly followed, and who hung up the 911 call–Zimmermann or the dispatcher. The logging recorder tape of the 911 call has not been released. Read about the union’s support for the dispatcher here, read about the county’s report here, and download (pdf) the report here, including a list of Web sites the dispatcher surfed around the time of the 911 call. FOX-TV’s Greta Van Sustern has been discussing the case–check a transcript here. Lastly, check this story on 911 director Joe Norwick and his press conference.