• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

MADISON - State lawmakers will vote in committee Thursday on whether to stop considering 911 call recordings a public record.  Under the current law, 911 recordings are generally available to the general public with few exceptions.  

However, some state lawmakers say the recordings should not be considered public records to protect the privacy of callers.  That is controversial because groups like the Wisconsin Broadcasters' Association and the ACLU maintain the call recordings can reveal important information about public safety that should not be kept out of the public's view.  For example, the recordings can reveal if a call is mishandled.  TODAY'S TMJ4 is a member of the Wisconsin Broadcasters' Association.

The bill would allow a transcript of the calls to be publicly released.   However, the ACLU said that may not tell the full story behind a call and would fail to convey information about the timing of exchanges with a dispatcher and tone of voices used in the call.

"The public deserves to get all the information with very limited exceptions," said Christopher Ahmuty of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin.  "Those exceptions should be done on the basis of a balancing test that's in the current law now."

The bill's sponsors reference the murder of UW student Brittany Zimmerman as part of the reason behind the proposed change.  In the case, Madison Police say Zimmerman dialed 911 for help but a Dane County dispatcher made a mistake and did not send law enforcement.  Dane County officials have refused to release the recording.  Zimmerman's family has also asked not to have the recording released because they say it would bring back painful memories.

Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke said he supports the bill.  But he also said he could continue releasing 911 audio recordings as he has always done.  He could not cite an example of a 911 call that his office released that he would try to protect under a new law.  "The ones I've already released because I have to under the law, yeah, I'd still release. I will err on the side of releasing the information," Clarke said.

Representative Josh Zepnick is a cosponsor of the bill and said, "there is a level at which you've got to wonder what's in the public interest versus how much privacy does this family have?"