Brickbat: Hello? Hello?

Oliver Sved / Dreamstime.com

A Harris County, Texas, 911 operator has been sentenced to community service and 18 months probation for repeatedly hanging up on calls. When one man called to report speeding cars, Crenshanda William told him, "Ain't nobody got time for this. For real."

Comments

[Eidde]

"911, what's your emergency? Yeah, we all have problems, maybe if you'd cooked his meals on time he wouldn't be threatening to shoot you...

"911, what's your emergency? Just one leg broken? Walk it off, snowflake, geez, quit your whining...

"911, what's your emergency? Oh, a traffic accident, that's original. Anyone dead? So, you admit they're not dead *yet*...

"911, what's your emergency? An overdose of what? You druggies make me sick, get off the line..."

[MatthewSlyfield]

"When one man called to report speeding cars, Crenshanda William told him, "Ain't nobody got time for this. For real.""

Personally, I don't see the problem with this one. How is reporting speeders an appropriate use of 911?

[steve walsh]

My thought exactly. Charles should have found a truly egregious example of Crenshanda's dereliction.

[MatthewSlyfield]

It's not Charles. I checked the linked article, while it does say Crenshanda had an abnormally large number of short calls, many under 20 seconds, the only specific example discussed in the article was the attempt to report the speeders.

In most jurisdictions, it's actually an offense to call 911 for an inappropriate reason.

[Rat on a train]

If you follow the link in the linked article:

Another call investigators say Williams hung up on was covered by Eyewitness News on March 12. A man called 911 about a deadly robbery on FM 1960 and Mills Road. The store owner was killed leaving behind four children.

"It's a really tragic thing to hear," said Moten.

For that particular call, documents said, you could "hear (Williams) sigh before the call is terminated."

[Mickey Rat]

You cannot expect Charles to go down a level in his links!

[Rhywun]

You cannot expect Charles Reason to go down a level in his their links!

FTFY

BTW, this chick should be in prison.

[Gryph]

" the only specific example discussed in the article was the attempt to report the speeders."
Perhaps, but she is not supposed to simply hang up.
She should be directing that call to the proper non-emergency lines.

as for "inappropriate reasons", when one reports a dangerous situation, such as a speeder, most don't consider that a non-emergency.
As a I am a police/emergency dispatcher, I understand their mindset, so I direct them to the non-emergency line and keep the emergency lines clear.
No harm, no foul.
But this idiot couldn't even be bothered to do that. She's an embarrassment to the job and should get a more strenuous punishment.

[Tom Bombadil]

Speeders are a danger NOW, because they are speeding NOW. That is the definition of an emergency.
The 911 dispatcher is an idiot.

[loveconstitution1789]

If someone is dying or a reasonable person would expect someone to die or get seriously hurt, you have yourself an emergency call.

[Fuck you, Shikha (Nunya)]

If by speeders they mean folks street racing then I can see it justifiable. More likely, that guy is a Nosey Parker.

[Conchfritters]

Who is she, sweet Brown? For realz.

[Texasmotiv]

+1 Lord Jesus, it's a fire

[Rhywun]

Bless her heart.

[sarcasmic]

Residential neighborhood with kids in the streets? Not saying that was the case, but if it was I'd say it would be an appropriate use of law enforcement.

[MatthewSlyfield]

Okay, I'll say that was not the case.

From the linked article.

"In 2016, Jim Moten said he called 911 after witnessing two vehicles speeding down Highway 45"

So it was on a state highway, not a residential street.

[Rhywun]

Plenty of those are also residential streets. I grew up on an 8 lane highway that was dangerous af.

[Cynical Asshole]

"In 2016, Jim Moten said he called 911 after witnessing two vehicles speeding down Highway 45"

Harris County is Houston, so Highway 45 probably is referring to Interstate 45.

Having lived there for 2 years all I can say is: people were speeding on I-45?! Nooooo, that never happens. *rolls eyes*

[sarcasmic]

I lived in a quiet, residential area for a while.

What you had to look out for were the cops. They'd speed along on their cell phones or looking at their computers. Not a care in the world. Anyone who got in their way got blue lights.

They were the danger.

[Tom Bombadil]

"Personally, I don't see the problem with this one. How is reporting speeders an appropriate use of 911?"

911 is the only way to request police help "now".

People speeding can easily create a dangerous, even life-threatening situation.
That's what police cruising around in their cars are for.
Of all the times you've seen police, what percentage of the time are they tied up in an emergency?
What percentage of the time were they just driving around, or parked, or eating donuts?
Their time is not that precious.

[sarcasmic]

They have to be available for emergencies! They can't be available for emergencies if they are answering calls!

[Vernon Depner]

In many jurisdictions patrol officers spend 100% of their time responding to 911 calls.

[sarcasmic]

If that is the case then they aren't patrol officers because they don't patrol. They are response officers.

[MatthewSlyfield]

"911 is the only way to request police help "now"."

Bull. At least where I live, the local PDs all still have direct non-emergency numbers for every station.

"People speeding can easily create a dangerous, even life-threatening situation."

True, but 99.999% of the time it doesn't.

[Tom Bombadil]

Where I live it is 911 or nothing. If you call any other listed police number and tell them you want a policeman to respond for any reason, they tell you to call 911. If you come home and see someone stole roses from your garden, you call 911.

I guess different procedures are in play.

Besides, as mentioned above, dangerous driving which is occurring 'now', is by definition, an emergency.

[Cynical Asshole]

People speeding can easily create a dangerous, even life-threatening situation.

Depends on what's meant by speeding. Going 100 mph and weaving through traffic is one thing, going 85 in a 75 mph zone on a major highway and not cutting is something else entirely. I'm guilty of the latter just this morning. Somehow I made into work safe, as did all the other people who were going about the same speed as me.

[Cynical Asshole]

not cutting *anyone off*

[Deconstructed Potato]

Hopefully also not cutting anyone either, like those drive-by stabbings that are so popular in London.

[loveconstitution1789]

When I have called the non-emergency police number, they told me to call 911. The idea is that 911 can better sort all calls as either emergency or non-emergency.

I personally think its because my area doesn't get many actual emergency calls, so they don't want cutbacks to a 911 center because of lack of calls.

If a 911 operator is always available to take every actual emergency call and if they want to forward non-emergency calls too to save on paying non-emergency secretaries too, maybe it's not a waste.

[MatthewSlyfield]

"When I have called the non-emergency police number, they told me to call 911. The idea is that 911 can better sort all calls as either emergency or non-emergency."

Where I am, it's a crime in it's own right. for which you can be prosecuted to call 911 for a non-emergency.

[loveconstitution1789]

That would be part of the problem then. People traveling around the USA have different standards for when to call 911.

[Rossami]

Last I checked, speeding was still illegal. It also creates a defined danger to the community. (How do I know it created a danger? Because that's the legal justification used when deciding the speed limit in the first place.)

So where exactly do you think you should call to report a crime in progress?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Huh. She saw more consequences than public servants who actually kill people.

[Fuck you, Shikha (Nunya)]

She used mean words sometimes. Can't have that!

[Cynical Asshole]

Are 911 operators members of a powerful public sector union? If not, there's your explanation.

[Longtobefree]

The perfect rebuttal to the gun grabbers who say to call the cops when you are being attacked - - - - - - - - -

[Gryph]

This idiot needs far more than 10 day in jail and 18 months probation for disconnecting -thousands- of emergency calls. (no hyperbole here)
What she did is unacceptable and might very well have cost lives and what she "has time for" is of no importance when faced with the seriousness of the job she CHOSE to take.

I don't speak out of ignorance with regards to the nature of the work as I am a police/emergency dispatcher.

[Vernon Depner]

Affirmative Action hiring at work.

[sarcasmic]

I've had three comments in a row eaten by being logged out. Fuck you Reason. I'm done.

[Robert]

Call 911.

[Rhywun]

"Ain't nobody got time for this. For real."

She sounds like every post office window worker or DMV counter staff person I have ever encountered.

[Cynical Asshole]

When one man called to report speeding cars, Crenshanda William told him, "Ain't nobody got time for this. For real."

I see nothing wrong with that response. Speeding cars isn't an emergency, which is what 911 is supposed to be for. I suspect what her superiors were really upset about was the lost revenue from all the speeding tickets they could have issued.

[Cynical Asshole]

"Ain't nobody got time for this. For real."

Although I am curious if she said that while doing "3 snaps in a z formation."

[Rossami]

You would be wrong. Speeding is both a crime and a danger to the community. (We know that because safety is the primary criterion that's [supposed to be] used when setting the speed limit in the first place.) Calling 911 is exactly the right place to report a crime in progress. Even the police will tell you so, should you attempt to call the non-emergency line with such a report.

[Juice]

I thought the Supreme Court ruled multiple times that police officers have no duty to protect people or to respond to their calls.

[loveconstitution1789]

For some reason everyone has a duty to pay taxes to cover the salaries of those police though.