Prosecutor: Texas 9-1-1 Operator Disconnected 825 Calls Over Five Months

Oct. 18--A 911 operator charged with hanging up on emergency callers because she didn't want to talk to them appears to have disconnected at least 825 calls over a five-month period, authorities said Monday.

Some callers were trying to report serious emergencies, and at least one involved an armed robbery that ended with a fatal shooting.

The revelations could bring additional charges against Crenshanda Williams, 43, who appeared in court Monday on two criminal misdemeanor charges of interfering with an emergency telephone call.

Williams, who can be heard saying, "Ain't nobody got time for this," while hanging up on one caller, told Houston police she hung up because "she did not want to talk to anyone at that time," according to a criminal complaint filed in court.

One call Williams apparently ended prematurely was from a caller trying to report a violent robbery. In another, a caller dialed 911 concerned about two drivers racing in an area on Interstate 45 where people had been killed speeding just weeks earlier.

Prosecutor Claire Morneau, with the Harris County District Attorney's Office's public integrity unit, said investigators reviewed 1,000 cases and found 825 calls in which Williams hung up and the caller had to try again.

Jeff McShan, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, said state law does not allow prosecutors to charge Williams with a felony, even with hundreds of potential criminal violations.

"Our Public Integrity (Unit) spent weeks on this case reviewing hundreds of thousands of documents," McShan said in an email. "She could face more misdemeanor charges, should we identify and find more victims."

Williams appeared in court Monday but declined to speak to reporters. Her attorney, Abel Izaguirre, also declined to comment.

She was indefinitely suspended in August and no longer works for the Houston Emergency Center. A supervisor and manager who oversaw Williams have been placed on one year of internal probation, officials said.

'This is an anomaly'

The breakdown stunned emergency responders and 911 experts.

"Never have we seen this type of incident," said Joe Laud, HEC's administration manager. "This is an anomaly; it doesn't happen on a regular basis."

The center -- which opened in 2003 after the city consolidated 911 calls for the police, fire, and emergency management services -- handles millions of calls annually, and about 9,000 a day, Laud said. About one-third are true emergencies, he said.

Williams' alleged misdeeds came to light after HEC officials performing routine monthly audits of 911 calls noticed a high volume of Williams' calls lasted less than 20 seconds, he said.

The investigation prompted HEC officials to review procedures at the facility, Laud said.

"Now, we are specifically targeting call takers that have what we call short calls, that may show some sort of significance," he said. "Because we are definitely making all efforts to avoid this same situation (again)."

"This is just a very significant event," he said. "And we feel that her actions do not represent all the call takers in this facility or call takers in general. They have a very specific interest in doing a great job in providing emergency response to people."

Began working in 2014

State records show Williams began working as a call taker in July 2014. She had received about 378 hours of training.

Dispatchers in other states have faced punishment for similar behavior in recent years.

Officials in New Mexico last year revoked the license of a dispatcher who hung up on a caller trying to help a shooting victim. In Chicago, a dispatcher also faced scrutiny after hanging up on a teenager who called police, claiming his life was being threatened, and who police then shot and killed when they arrived at his house.

The scandal nevertheless baffled 911 experts.

"When I heard about it, I was stunned, because, the frequency of that happening, I don't know of any situation like that in the past," said Brian Fontes, chief executive at the National Emergency Number Association, a professional organization that sets standards for emergency call centers across the country. "There's been issues, I'm sure, with 911 telecommunicators either not responding correctly or may have misdirected the routing of the responders, but I've never heard of a situation where 911 telecommunicators hung up on a 911 call. I've just never heard of that."

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