Murders in Madison tend to be few and far between so we were all disturbed when we heard the story of Brittany Zimmerman being murdered in her downtown apartment. It became even more upsetting when we heard she actually dialed 9-1-1, but that no police were ever sent to the scene.
How could this be possible? Did a 9-1-1 operator simply blow-off the call because it was a hang-up? How could someone not follow-up? Are 9-1-1 operators really qualified to do the job?
Kitty and I talked about these things on the air and I wondered if I could ever get to really see the inner workings of the 9-1-1 center. A few minutes later I received an e-mail from Tom Hanrahan who is a supervisior at the 9-1-1 center in Dane County. He invited me to come and take a look around and talk with some of the 9-1-1 operators.
I went on Thursday afternoon and learned a lot. Some things were comforting, but others were quiet scary.
Perhaps the scariest thing: The technology we have to talk to each other is way more advanced than the technology we have to talk to 9-1-1.
Apparently, if you call 9-1-1 from a cell phone the first thing that comes up on the operators screen is not your actual location, but the location of the cell phone tower your cell phone is using. The tower could be a few miles away. If you're on the phone long enough with the 9-1-1 operator, he or she can get a more specific location. However, it's not that specific.
For example, Triple M's studios are at 7601 Ganser Way. If I were to call 9-1-1 and stay on long enough (probably about 45 seconds) they would see I'm on Ganser Way, but not know exactly where. There are four office buildings on Ganser Way and a restaurant. All they would know is that I'm in one of those places.
If I call from a traditional landline, the 9-1-1 dispatcher sees my name and my address immediately. If I call from a cell phone, they get my number. To find my name (if I don't give it to them) they actually have to contact the cell phone company and get them to look it up. It used to be a little easier to figure out which cell phone company because the companies each had a different prefix. Now we can carry our cell phone number to a different cell phone company so it makes the process even a little longer.
I asked Hanrahan how long it takes to get someone's name from a cell phone company and he told me it could be as quick as a couple of minutes or as long as a half-hour.
Hanrahan says this is the way all 9-1-1 center work. It's not a matter of buying better software, it's that better software doesn't exist yet.
This does not excuse what happened with Brittany Zimmerman. The 9-1-1 operator should have followed up more on the Zimmerman hang-up.
The only thing this does for me is explain why dialing 9-1-1 doesn't always mean you'll get help.
I hope there are some smart computer people working day and night to figure out a way for cell phones to be as accurate as landlands when someone calls for help.
