The city of Madison will sue Dane County to prevent it from moving ahead with changes to the 911 nonemergency dispatch system, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz announced Thursday.
According to Rachel Strauch-Nelson, spokesperson for Cieslewicz, on Tuesday the county announced it would implement an auto-attendant system at the 911 center Saturday.
The automated system is intended to allow 911 dispatchers to focus on emergencies rather than ""serving as a reception center for incoming business phone calls"" by connecting callers with services they're looking for, according to a statement released by County Executive Kathleen Falk.
According to Strauch-Nelson, ""[The county would] also end dispatcher's parking enforcement calls for the city of Madison when that auto-attendant goes into effect, or they would charge the city for that service,"" something the city strongly opposes with the service costing $33,000.
The city argues Falk does not have legal standing to implement the program without the consent of the 911 center board.
""Not only do I believe that the county's actions are not supported under law, but they are either premature or they represent a bad public policy,"" Cieslewicz said in a statement.
Strauch-Nelson said over a dozen government leaders and police chiefs throughout the county attended the news conference Wednesday to show their support for Madison's decision.
""They share [Madison's] concerns,"" she said. ""They see this as a dangerous precedent … If the county can unilaterally decide what calls it's going to dispatch and what ones it won't, then what will be next?""
—Grace Urban
