The family of Brittany Zimmermann is suing Dane County and the 911 operator who handled a call from Zimmermann's cell phone the afternoon she was murdered.

The 21-year-old UW-Madison junior was found slain in her West Doty Street apartment April 2 by her fiancee.  The federal lawsuit dated Thursday alleges "under-trained" operator Rita Gahagan at the "under-staffed" Dane County Call Center took Brittany Zimmermann's 911 call but hung up after 90 seconds, then failed to call Zimmermann back or contact police to investigate as required by county regulations.  The suit requests a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages.

The botched 911 call has ignited outrage and has been at the center of the investigation into Zimmermann's murder since the story broke in Isthmus May 1.  Madison Police Chief Noble Wray has acknowledged 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), then forgot to call back.
 

The suit was inevitable, and tragically should not be necessary.  Let's hope this has been a wake-up call for all involved at the Dane County 911 center.