You Stand Alone #3: Slain student called 911, but no one came in time

[techres]

From CNN of all places:

Slain student called 911, but no one came in time

Brittany Zimmerman, a 21-year-old college student who wanted to be a doctor, called 911 as she was being attacked by a stranger, police say.

Brittany Zimmerman's screams and struggle for her life were captured by a 911 tape.

But the police did not come for 48 minutes. By that time, Zimmerman was dead. Her fiance found her body.

Although the dispatcher claimed later to have heard nothing, the 911 tape captured screams, gasps and what sounds like a struggle, according to the court documents.

When seconds count, help might be 45+ minutes away!

Zimmerman had been stabbed multiple times in her chest, near her heart. She'd also been beaten and strangled, according to warrants released recently.

Zimmerman managed to call 911 at 12:20 p.m. The call was taken by the Dane County 911 center and an internal investigation revealed the dispatcher did not hear any sounds that would signal an emergency.

Because of that, police were not sent to the apartment until 48 minutes after Zimmerman made the call. Her fiance was already there.

Dane County has taken some harsh criticism from the public regarding the delay, and tough questions have been raised about whether a prompt response might have saved Zimmerman's life.

Was there time for her to defend herself?

The police said they believe Zimmerman was attacked by a stranger. Her apartment door showed signs of forced entry.

One would think that maybe if she had time to get to a phone, then she had time to get to a gun. Perhaps that is true given the forced entry to the house. But what is unquestionable is that sole reliance upon help coming from the other end of the phone was a major failure in this case. Frankly, even if police had been send ASAP, they might have been too late.

Again, reliance on others is great if they are there. But if the attack comes at another time, you stand alone.

 

[waloidian]

sad sad sad. That is just unacceptable for our emergency system. Heads need to roll from top to bottom on this one. Until the operators are held accountable, things wont improve. This is the countless time ive heard of untrained, apathetic, etc operators costing lives.

 

[Scutter01]

I don't even understand the delay. "Help! I'm being murdered!" "Well, ma'am, I can't HEAR anything, so we'll just put you to the end of the list."

 

[waloidian]

Im sure random acts of violence happen, but does anyone think there was no motive in her murder? Somethings missing from an attack where there if forced entry, no burglary, no rape...just a vicious attack on a young girl...then no trace.

 

[Donnelly]

Where is the accountability? As long as no one is held accountable, situations like this will continue.

 

[ATF Consumer]

Im sure random acts of violence happen, but does anyone think there was no motive in her murder? Somethings missing from an attack where there if forced entry, no burglary, no rape...just a vicious attack on a young girl...then no trace.

And her fiance was already there...
Maybe she called him after she called 911

Question is...did he then call 911 when he arrived?

 

[Jay]

As long as the courts continue to declare that law enforcement has no responsibility to protect any one individual, there will be no accountability.

 

[waloidian]

I didnt think of the finance angle, interesting, but unless hes like Dexter, I dont think he could do all that, and clean himself up to not be considered a suspect.

 

[GetA2J]

Here is a video update on the story as linked in that article above...
Slain student called 911, but no one came in time - CNN.com

It sounds like nothing new in this particular case but possible likns to other cases.

 

[agentl074]

I don't even understand the delay. "Help! I'm being murdered!" "Well, ma'am, I can't HEAR anything, so we'll just put you to the end of the list."

When I was on the Sheriffs Dept. in my County - we rolled on every call like it was a big deal. I guess some places really dont care. 1911 gets help faster than 911

 

[colt45er]

Not to thread jack but here is another, similar story

No Duty to Protect
It’s not just that the police cannot protect you. They don’t even have to come when you call. In most states the government and police owe no legal duty to protect individual citizens from criminal attack. The District of Columbia’s highest court spelled out plainly the “fundamental principle that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular individual citizen.”[5]
In the especially gruesome landmark case the “no-duty” rule got ugly. Just before dawn on March 16, 1975, two men broke down the back door of a three-story home in Washington, D.C., shared by three women and a child. On the second floor one woman was sexually attacked. Her housemates on the third floor heard her screams and called the police.
The women’s first call to D.C. police got assigned a low priority, so the responding officers arrived at the house, got no answer to their knocks on the door, did a quick check around, and left. When the women frantically called the police a second time, the dispatcher promised help would come—but no officers were even dispatched.
The attackers kidnapped, robbed, raped, and beat all three women over 14 hours. When these women later sued the city and its police for negligently failing to protect them or even to answer their second call, the court held that government had no duty to respond to their call or to protect them. Case dismissed.
The law is similar in most states. A Kansas statute precludes citizens from suing the government or the police for negligently failing to enforce the law or for failing to provide police or fire protection. A California law states that “neither a public entity nor a public employee is liable for failure to establish a police department or otherwise provide police protection service.”[6] As one California appellate court wrote, “police officers have no affirmative statutory duty to do anything.”[7]
The state legislatures and courts protect government entities and police departments from civil liability for failing to provide adequate police protection. Some states invoke the “sovereign immunity” defense, a throwback to the days when the subjects were forbidden to sue the king. Other states have statutes that prevent legal challenges to police “discretionary” functions. Courts preclude lawsuits in those states by holding that answering emergency calls or providing police protection are “discretionary” functions.
Many states evade liability by relying on the ironically named “public duty” doctrine. Like a George Orwell slogan, that doctrine says: police owe a duty to protect the public in general, but not to protect any particular individual.

 

[waloidian]

wow, you learn something everyday on INGO.

 

[96harley]

I have had citzens ask me a lot here lately what to get to defend themselves with? Shotgun....point....shoot....stop. I encourage folk to rely on themselves for protection.

Some more food for thought that I throw in the issue is if there ever is a critical time that would force us all to take care of ourselves; I have two daughters with children living in the area. If it all goes down hill this cop is headed for them in order to make sure they are safe. Not meaning to be non-responsive or not dedicated to the job because if that time should ever come I will react more like a father than a cop.

Please don't take this wrong. I just try to drive the message home that we should each be able to defend our selves cause the government can't always do it.

 

[JetGirl]

As long as the courts continue to declare that law enforcement has no responsibility to protect any one individual, there will be no accountability.

Exactly....“it is a fundamental principle of American law that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any individual citizen.'' Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. Ct. of Ap., 1981). Upheld June 27, 2005 in a Supreme Court ruling of Castle Rock v Gonzales.
Police do not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm. This means you pay for law enforcement, not protection. It is every person’s responsibility to protect themselves, their property and family.

 

[Joe Williams]

Im sure random acts of violence happen, but does anyone think there was no motive in her murder? Somethings missing from an attack where there if forced entry, no burglary, no rape...just a vicious attack on a young girl...then no trace.

I'm going to go against the flow a bit, and not blame the cops or 911, at least not entirely. That young lady and her fiance appear to have made the choice to not take personal responsibility for their own protection, which means (to me, at least) they must share the "blame," for lack of a better word.

As for the question above, one of three times I've used a handgun to defend myself was a very similar situation. I was living off base in Albuquerque. A dude knocked on my door. When I answered, without a word being said he slammed his shoulder into the door and forced entry. I went running for my gun, got to it, he stopped... then started getting eaten by the German Sheppard puppy I had at the time I'd never seen the dude before, the last I ever saw of him was him running down the street with my little hero biting the back of his legs. Random as all get out.

PK (the doggy) got some training on coming out of an attack on command after that.. I didn't want to risk him getting run over if he ever had to chase another bad guy down the road!

 

[96harley]

Joe living out in the sticks it pays to have a landshark, aka, in my case a rottweiler.