Creshanda Williams, 911 Operator Who Repeatedly Disconnected Emergency Calls, Sentenced To Jail

A former 911 operator from Houston, who was found guilty of routinely hanging up on people calling for emergency services, was sentenced to 10 days in Harris County Jail and up to 18 months of probation Wednesday.

Creshanda Williams, 44, worked as an emergency calls operator in Houston Emergency Center till October 2016, when she was fired from her job after an audit revealed an abnormally high number of calls answered by her lasted less than 20 seconds, FOX News reported.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg’s office said upon interrogating Williams about the “shot calls,” she admitted she hung up on many people calling for emergency aid between October 2015 and March 2016 because she did not feel like talking to people at the time.

At the end of her three-day trial, the jurors found her guilty of interference with emergency calls, which is a misdemeanor offence.

“The citizens of Harris County rely on 911 operators to dispatch help in their time of need.” Assistant District Attorney Lauren Reeder said. “When a public servant betrays the community’s trust and breaks the law, we have a responsibility to hold them criminally accountable.”

The verdict was given despite Williams' attorney, Franklin Bynum, arguing his client "was going through a hard time in her life" at the time when she chose to hang up on people calling for emergency services. Bynum further added "punishing her doesn't do anything to fix the problems that still exist at the emergency center."

The database in the emergency center also kept records of the call taker, the caller and the operator who disconnected the call. Investigators looked into the details of Williams’ “short calls” and found she repeatedly hung up on people calling to report robberies, homicides and speeding vehicles.

In a particular instance March 12, 2016, Hua Li had called 911 after witnessing an active robbery involving an armed suspect while buying lottery tickets at a convenience store at FM 1960 and Mills Road, the Blaze reported.

After answering Li’s call, Williams hung up immediately. As Li drove away from the scene of crime, he called 911 again. Williams picked his call a second time, only to heave and sigh and hang up again after Li said the words, “It’s a robbery.”

Finally, when Li called back a third time, he was able to speak to a different operator and was able to report what he witnessed. By the time officers arrived on the scene of the robbery, the store manager had died. The victim was a father of four who was expecting his first grandchild.

In another instance, Jim Moten got put through to Williams after dialing 911 to report two vehicles racing on a highway, which was prone to accidents. Without hearing the details, a disinterested Williams said, “Ain’t nobody got time for this. For real,” and cut the call.