What is Digg?411 Comments
- jontalisman, on 05/03/2008, -14/+266This is outrageous.
- DeskFlyer, on 05/03/2008, -17/+179This story has been dominating the news radio airwaves here in Milwaukee. I listened to the press conference and it does indeed sound like it was a colossal screw up on the dispatcher's part. But before everyone starts calling for the hanging of the operator, keep in mind that 911 dispatchers receive tons of misdials a day and they are under a lot of pressure to get the resources they have available to them to the people who need them the most. Obviously, Zimmerman was one of these people and the dispatcher failed to call back the number as required by policy, but everyone makes mistakes. We're all human.
This dispatcher, as negligent as they were, did not do this on purpose. I'm not saying that this should be swept under the rug; an investigation is most definitely on order, but just think how bad this person feels right now. It's just a sad, unfortunate situation all around and they can't do anything other than take the proper steps to ensure it doesn't happen again in the future (probably by punishing and/or firing the operator and emphasizing training in this particular area). Bury me if you want, but I not only feel bad for the Zimmermans, but for the dispatcher as well. - lhbaker, on 05/03/2008, -4/+137A few years ago, My 1-year old son dialed 911 at random, and the phone was on speaker. When I heard the dispatcher say "Jefferson County Sheriff, what is your emergency?" I snatched the phone and told them my toddler had dialed them. Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on my door. It was a cop, and his gun was unholstered. It sounds like Madison, WI needs a similar policy.
- Korpil, on 05/03/2008, -3/+85There is a lot more to this story than yahoonews knows. I live in Madison and they have had this bit of information out for a while now. Here is the story that ran in the campus newspaper today that may shed a little more light onto this story rather than this mindless idiocy. http://badgerherald.com/news/2008/05/02/police_fai ...
- jamestroy, on 05/03/2008, -58/+125Not only should this piece of crap operator be fired, but serve a prison sentence for the death of this young girl!
- inactive, on 05/03/2008, -15/+79For the sake of your friends and family, and those of us who read DIgg comments, please go back on your medication.
- Rotzooi, on 05/03/2008, -19/+71It's Hillary's fault.
- Number23, on 05/03/2008, -11/+61A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Police: When seconds count, they're minutes away. - CaptainAmerica1, on 05/03/2008, -6/+49Look, I'm a former cop, and also served time as a dispatcher during training (back when officers were rotated through the 911 center). This is extremely tragic...but, there is a fallibility factor associated with human performance in any job -- no one is 100% effective all the time in their jobs. That fall ability may have been a factor in this situation -- I would hope that this didn't happen due to total and willful abdication of job and personal responsibility.
Given that it was determined to be human error, what crime would you charge the dispatcher with so that they would serve a prison sentence? - Dou6, on 05/03/2008, -3/+39Sorry, but even if police were sent, it was likely already too late. In a situation like this, by the time you dial 911, it's too late, the police show up to fill out a report, you get a toe tag, and everyone is blamed and no one acknowledges that you are responsible to protect yourself. Did this girl deserve to die, of course not, but this is the world we live in, unfortunately.
I am the kind of person that won't even kill a spider in the house, but I know that if someone attempts to harm me, using a firearm in my defense may be the only option. - Mark2600, on 05/03/2008, -3/+36This is a tough one to read.
As a Dispatcher myself, the standard operating procedure is to always call back, but you have to answer the calls that are active in the banks. There are always priority calls, and public intoxication isn't one of them. Unfortunately, this Dispatcher was stretched thin with calls (before you say 3 calls isn't a lot, come to work with me), and it slipped through the cracks. Horrible? Absolutely. Put this public servant in jail? Absolutely not.
Keep in mind that he's a civilian dispatcher, not a Police Officer, so put all of your hatred towards the MPD aside (who had no share in blame in this case, if most of you RTFA), and realize that this is a civilian organization who just plainly screwed up. - inactive, on 05/03/2008, -62/+94This kind of neglegence beggars belief. The 911 dispatcher should be sacked and stabbed.
- RuffRidr, on 05/03/2008, -1/+32There is no next time for this woman.
- funktimus, on 05/03/2008, -4/+32Thing is, her call was made from a cell-phone, and apparently the technology isn't there yet to effectively dispatch to a "cell location."
http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2973 - this article is better in general. It's from Madison and isn't nearly as biased and sensationalized. - WHNA, on 05/03/2008, -2/+30I am curious as to why the department refuses to release the tape.
Unless they are withholding it from the public by request of the parents of the victim, they need to make it available to the press at the very least, so they can review it to provide an account of what happened on the call. The story points out so many inconsistencies in what they are saying about the circumstances surrounding the call that it all reeks of CYA by the folks at the department. - CaptainAmerica1, on 05/03/2008, -5/+32It's rare to be totally surprised in your own home...in most situations, the resident becomes aware of something wrong (as this yoiung lady did) and there is enough time to arm and defend yourself while calling for help.
- hansk, on 05/03/2008, -0/+25after reading what you are thinking, I'm thinking the human gene pool needs more chlorine.
- matador3, on 05/03/2008, -11/+34The perfect example of why everybody should have a gun in their home and know how to use it. 911 is great idea but mistakes happen and in any case the response time might not be fast enough to save your ass. You're ultimately responsible for your own safety.
- flossdaily, on 05/03/2008, -5/+25Wait for the tape to be released before you make up your minds.
- WriterSD, on 05/03/2008, -4/+24So awful!
- threemagic, on 05/03/2008, -6/+25We will never know. However, when you are in a seat where lives are on the line, I think it's "*****" for someone in that position to ignore protocol.
- blorc, on 05/03/2008, -2/+21My .45 Springfield 1911 diggs this post.
- mrsmegz, on 05/03/2008, -1/+20I am a 911/police/fire dispatcher for a county of roughly 250k ppl. Like most centers, we are short staffed and work lots of overtime just to keep the service to the public going 24-7. People get tired, people get burned out, and most of the calls are problems people can solve them self breeding apathy among dispatchers. Not to defend never calling back, but our center has a policy to call back at least twice on all hangups, check open lines for TTY machines (devices for the hearing impaired), and send officers on every land line hangup we get. However newer cell phones have features built in where we can receive the location of your call. We have toyed around w/ it some and it varies from right on top of you to about 300m away. We do not send officers on cell phone calls since over 95pct are not emergencies, or we are listening to a phone in somebody's pocket who held down 9. If there was some sort of distress or somebody calling for help, he would send help as best we could, if the cell phone gave a location, otherwise there is no way for us to find you. So as a tip for everybody, if you have to dial 911, give your location first every time, so if you get cut off, at least we know where to go.
- inactive, on 05/03/2008, -14/+32STAY ARMED STAY SAFE! Gun Owner or Victim, Your Choice!
- Pyroteq, on 05/03/2008, -5/+23Or maybe the guy who ***** killed her should be the one taking the punishment? Just maybe.
- matador3, on 05/03/2008, -2/+19Yup, having a gun is cheap insurance. My home defense gun is a Maverick 88 pump shotgun that I bought at Wal Mart for $150. At that price I can't understand why the hell people wouldn't have one. They probably cost a bit more nowadays but figure $300 for a shotgun and a few boxes of shells to get proficient with it. It seems like a worthwhile thing to do even if you're not a "gun enthusiast". I didn't use to be and I only bought it on the advise of my dad because my first apartment was in a sketchy neighborhood. I've never needed it and probably never will but I appreciate the fact that its there if I do.
- pinguwin, on 05/03/2008, -1/+18I was being hassled by a car while riding my bike one day and rode to the police station on a quiet Saturday afternoon. The 911 dispatcher was the only one at the station and was busy on a call so I didn't make a fuss. After about five minutes of the call he didn't look very engaged so I edged closer to the mouse hole in the glass window and heard her discussing her credit card bills. She had no idea whether someone was in the parking lot with a heart attack or not. She wouldn't take details nor could she figure out whether it was in her jurisdiction, etc. In other words she was telling me, "Go away" When I talked to the police chief two days later he said no record was made even though the 911 dispatcher said a car was sent to investigate. He raised hell when he found out. So dispatchers sometimes make mistakes, other times it's far worse.
FWIW, when I lived in Madison and accidentally dialed 911 from a computer at work during an all-nighter. I heard the dispatcher speak but couldn't respond (as it was on a modem) and hung up the modem. Within a few minutes a police car was at work querying the night guard who sent them my way, so Madison did respond properly in my case. - inactive, on 05/03/2008, -3/+20These are the types of comments that result when 13-year-old malcontents are allowed Internet access.
- sockpuppets, on 05/03/2008, -0/+16Yes all 300 million of us are in on it. Your super smart irish brain figured it out again!
- Duggan360, on 05/03/2008, -1/+17Oooo that means if you go missing no one will care =)
- kpmoore, on 05/03/2008, -15/+31If cops had been dispatched right away, they would have arrived in time to draw a chalk outline around the body and snap some crime scene photos. Yes, the dispatcher screwed up, but the final outcome would have been the same regardless. I think it's unfortunate, but not outrageous.
- 0011002, on 05/03/2008, -1/+16well she can't answer all those calls at 3am
- BGog, on 05/03/2008, -1/+16Actually the tech is there. It is called the E911 system and there are FCC rules requiring that phones and towers can provide enought information for a rough location.
- StanleyKoolPrik, on 05/03/2008, -1/+15She's just a normal looking girl, you pathetic lonely fool.
- gossipninja, on 05/03/2008, -2/+16What you say is mostly true however, if you TRAIN(range and with replicas) you can draw your weapon and neutralize a threat before they can react. Action is always faster then reaction. Cops and military do this all the time, it just takes training and an awareness. Crap look at krav maga, it teaches you how to disarm gun and knife attacks and they teach this to anyone. When my brother took krav training, within his first couple of lessons they showed him this. Now if you are untrained and just some redneck with a pistol, you are probably a bullettrap by the time you draw the gun. That is why almost every conceal and carry instructor encourages you to practice and to look into further training.
- inactive, on 05/03/2008, -13/+27So people make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes have tragic consequences? You don't say....
- Ostizzle, on 05/03/2008, -2/+15Unnecessary? This is a very necessary topic; one which must be discussed. Rather than sticking their heads in the sand because they're too afraid to accept the possibility that they could be the victim of violence, people need to accept this possibility and prepare themselves. Unfortunately, it seems that tragedy must strike before the sheep pull their heads out of their collective ass.
Whenever there is a murder what do we hear on the news? "It's just such a surprise. This stuff never happens in Littleton/DeKalb/Blacksburg!"
I'm not specifically referring to this situation and stating what the victim of this tragedy should or should not have done. I'm merely stating that these are the instances in which people should shift paradigms from one of "It can't happen to me" to one of preparedness. - floridiot2, on 05/03/2008, -10/+23I will digg you both up and let someone else decide.
- tnoy, on 05/03/2008, -1/+14Exactly, every person in the country lives within 2-3 minutes from a police station...
*cough* - wonderchemist, on 05/03/2008, -1/+13This is where you call back and say you don't need the cops no more cause you just shot them.
- inactive, on 05/03/2008, -51/+63This is why the people need to be armed. It is clear that there is no security in a free state when the right of the people to keep and bear arms is infringed.
- klisejo, on 05/03/2008, -7/+19-1 for the gun control folks. If she had been armed, she might have stood a chance.
- Duggan360, on 05/03/2008, -10/+21"Captain Obvious awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy......."
- inactive, on 05/03/2008, -1/+12You might as well learn how to quack like a duck, it will have the same chance of saving your life as those joke classes that get people beat the ***** up.
If you are a god damn pussy, taking a class a few times isnt going to change that. Buy a weapon and learn how to use it. - jmpeagle, on 05/03/2008, -1/+12the only thing unnecesary was this woman's death
- albaghly, on 05/03/2008, -0/+11the human gene pool just got stronger? you ***** moron, im a student here at UW-Madison and see absolutely no humor in that. She was a junior at a very highly ranked university, id put my money on her genes being far more superior to yours. idiot.
- MadOgre, on 05/03/2008, -2/+13Pacifism is a privilege of the protected.
- tehbored, on 05/03/2008, -3/+14Well location is a factor, and fifteen minutes is still reasonable.
- itsthemechanic, on 05/03/2008, -8/+18If she was ugly, nobody would care.
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