Not many would imagine that a Houston 911 operator would be arrested for hanging up on an emergency call because the operator did not feel like talking. The 43-year-old woman’s name is Crenshanda Williams, and she was working as a 911 operator for some time.
Williams hung up on callers for a while. It is quite likely that she hung up on thousands of people during her time at the Houston Emergency Center. Her transgressions were not uncovered because someone called in and complained about her. Her acts were discovered because the Houston Emergency Center keeps a close eye on the calls that come in and how long each operator is on the line with a person seeking assistance.
The 911 operator’s history showed that she had quite a number of short calls. According to the Houston Emergency Centers, short calls are calls that lasts 30 seconds or less.
There are a number of reasons why a call could be dropped this quickly. A line could have been disconnected, or the caller could have felt the emergency passed. Still, the amount of short calls William’s had made the Houston Emergency Center curious. The short calls turned out to be evidence that showed that Williams was hanging up on callers just for the sake of it. In her own words, “She didn’t feel like talking with anyone at time.”
The discovery led investigators to some staggering discoveries, like Hua Li’s case. Hua Li works at a convenience store. Li noticed some perpetrators coming into the store looking to rob it. He managed to get away and called 911 for assistance. Li was not able to finish his sentence before the dispatcher dropped his call.
Li called back and got another operator, but Li’s store manager was shot a killed by the time the cops arrived to the scene of the crime. Li was not sure what happened the first time he called but was infuriated when he found out that the disconnection was not an accident.
Keep in mind that Li and his store manager were just two people who Williams’ careless acts affected. Another person who suffered from this operator’s disregard for her duties was a security guard. The security guard got cut off as he was reporting some drivers attempting to drag race near his establishment. The Houston Emergency Center was able to extract a recording of the day Williams’ hung up on the security guard. Williams told the security guard, “Aint’ nobody got time for this. For real.”
The police confronted Williams, and she simply admitted that she hung up on callers because she did not feel like talking to them. Williams did not fight the cops or try to deny her actions. It was almost as if she did not care about what she had done. The argument could be made that she is responsible for any deaths that occurred due to her negligence.
The 911 operator was fired and is accused of two misdemeanor charges for interfering with an emergency call. It is said that a misdemeanor of this magnitude could be punishable with a prison sentence of at least one year. Each misdemeanor also carries a fine of $4,000.
There is no indicator that Williams intends to fight the charges. She seems unscathed by the situation, which really speaks about her character. It is sad to hear that a person who truly does not care about people was hired to help people who are in dire need.
Hopefully, Crenshanda Williams does receive the full extent of the law. This should help her understand that this type of behavior is not acceptable.