911 Operator Jailed For Hanging Up On Thousands Of Callers
HOUSTON (CBS Local) - A former 911 operator in Houston is headed to jail after an investigation revealed that the emergency center worker hung up on thousands of people who were calling for help.
Crenshanda Williams was sentenced to 10 days in prison and 18 months on probation for interfering with emergency telephone calls. According to KHOU, the 44-year-old was working as an emergency operator in Houston from 2015 to 2016. During that time, Williams registered thousands of "short calls" which lasted less than 20 seconds from citizens seeking help before being disconnected.
Investigators claim the former dispatcher hung up on people reporting various crimes ranging from robberies, to speeding vehicles, to homicides. "The citizens of Harris County rely on 911 operators to dispatch help in their time of need," Harris County prosecutor Lauren Reeder said, via the Houston Chronicle.
Williams reportedly told investigators that she hung up on callers because she did want to speak to anyone at those times. "She was going through a hard time in her life, and she was a poor performing worker at the Houston Emergency Center," her attorney Franklin Bynum said.
Bynum added that "systemic" problems at the Houston Emergency Center were the real issue in the case and planned to appeal his client's sentence.