This is insanity.

Originally reported in today's Isthmus, a phone call was placed to 911 from Brittany Zimmermann's cell phone the day she was killed.  The 911 call center erroneously deemed the call a mistake and failed to notify Madison police to dispatch officers to the scene.  The report alluded to a possible attempted cover-up at the call center. 

Madison Police Chief Noble Wray acknowledged Thursday that an officer should have responded, saying the 911 center ignored evidence in the call "which should have resulted in a Madison police officer being dispatched," but did not disclose the time and content of the call, citing the on-going investigation.  He said the call was not a hang-up nor an accidental call, contradicting 911 Director Joe Norwick who said the call from Zimmermann's phone was a hang-up call.

Even if that were the case, policy procedure at the Dane County 911 call center instructs dispatchers to call back hang-up calls to verify there is no emergency.  Norwick said the dispatcher hung up on the call from Zimmermann's phone to answer another 911 call (an actual hang-up).

"Norwick said the dispatcher got busy with other calls and forgot to call back to Zimmermann's phone," according to the Wisconsin State Journal.  Forgot?!

Wray is quoted in the same WSJ article as saying he "didn't know whether dispatching a police officer would have saved Zimmermann's life."  But it just might have--we'll never know.

Also disturbing is that the 911 call center has made no changes in policy, training or procedure, director Joseph Norwick acknowledged.  It has been a MONTH since Zimmermann was found slain in her 517 W. Doty Street apartment by her fiance around 1 p.m. on April 2.

The dispatcher has not been disciplined at this time, but the internal investigation is on-going.