Posted on October 13, 2016

Houston 911 Dispatcher Charged for Hanging up on Calls Because She Didn’t Feel Like Talking

Keri Blakinger, San Francisco Chronicle, October 13, 2016

When Hua Li called 911 to report a robbery, the woman on the other end of the phone answered with a sigh–and then hung up.

Now, 911 operator Crenshanda Williams, 43, of Houston, is facing two misdemeanor charges for allegedly hanging up on concerned callers just because she didn’t feel like talking.

Crenshanda Williams

Crenshanda Williams

{snip} All calls under 20 seconds trigger a supervisory review, and Williams had thousands.

{snip}

That day, Li strolled into a store looking to buy a lottery ticket but fled when he saw a man with a gun and heard a series of shots.

He tried calling 911–but the 911 operator hung up on him.

So he tried again.

“Houston 911, do you need medical, police or fire?” Williams asked.

“This is a robbery,” he said.

Williams sighed, and hung up.

{snip}

The following day, a security officer called in to report two drivers racing in an area where people had been killed speeding just weeks earlier.

As he started to report the problem, Williams cut him off.

“Ain’t nobody got time for this. For real,” she muttered, just after hanging up.

{snip}