It's one thing to mourn the loss of a promising young life while wishing something could have been done to save her-- wondering why no one heard or saw anything that could have improved police investigation. It's quite another, and a startling revelation about public safety, to learn that she proactively tried to save herself in the only way humanly possible at that point, and public resources failed her.

As a single parent who lives alone with a small child, I often sleep (door locked, of course) with my cell phone right next to my hand. This is a subconscious cautionary measure. It helps me feel "safe" to know that if a break-in occurred, I could ostensibly dial 9 1 1 without the intruder being aware, and keep law enforcement on the line, listening to what happens, to ensure that someone somewhere may be dispatched to my home. As a toddler, my daughter accidentally called 9 1 1 twice. Both times, police were at our door within minutes, even though the second time I called the police back myself to assure them that there was no problem. They said they had to come anyway, that it's policy. This was not in Dane County; perhaps I was naive in assuming it would be a blanket policy.

My father worked as a dispatcher for over 20 years, well before the advent of GPS technology or even the predominance of the internet. Even before these great strides, the tiny police station he worked in had systems in place to ensure that emergency calls could be tracked in as little time as possible. I've read a few articles online today about this new facet of the Zimmermann case; some comments include the fact that cellphones are not as easy to track as landlines, and maybe she wasn't on the line long enough for them to pinpoint her location. I don't buy it. If the call center states that their technology has been upgraded to the extent that they will send a press release detailing its capabilities, we should be able to live under the assumption that whether or not a landline is available to us, we can be helped by dialing 9 1 1. Apparently the cell location appears within a half-block to five mile radius, which could have at least assisted officers in surrounding the area and making an arrest. Wray asserts that the call itself is considered evidence in the case, which to me means something out of the ordinary was recorded. That alone should be enough to give us all pause.

But perhaps more importantly, with land lines frequently giving way to cell technology, and many forgoing the additional expense of a hardwired telephone in their home, why hasn't 9 1 1, probably the one thing I consider myself able to count on in this increasingly frightening world, kept up with the times?