r/interesting • u/ImmaFuckboi • 6h ago
SOCIETY 911 dispatcher ignores multiple emergency calls bc she doesn't feel like working.
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6h ago
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u/couldbutwont 6h ago
Yeah she is dead eyes crazy
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u/HugsandHate 3h ago
Comments say the video itself isn't real. But the story is.
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u/Outrageous_Year4617 2h ago
Well she was 43 not 23 and I can't tell if the video is really her or not. But yes it was really true. She even made the international news.
If you Google her she hung up on thousands of calls. She wasn't just fired she was convicted of a crime.
One of the Law and Orders episodes was about her case.
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u/Broke_n-Old6824 2h ago
Yep here is an actual article with her picture https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/austin/news/2018/04/19/911-operator-who-hung-up-on-emergency-calls-sentenced-to-jail
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u/Gone_For_Lunch 2h ago
10 days in jail? That’s all she got?
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u/Strange-Spot-3306 2h ago
It's a misdemeanor apparently.
But also, what the fuck - it took 'thousands' of calls she hung up on before she got found out? i mean yeah, she needs to be punished, but that is also negligent management.27
u/Conscious-Mirror7004 2h ago
What a ridiculous sentence.
She should have gotten 10 days in jail for each instance of hanging up on people. For a conservative estimate of "only" 1000 hang-ups, that would come out to 27 years.
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u/Ok-Pomegranate858 1h ago
Hold on. There are actual murders and robbers etc who got way less than that. I'd say 10 days for every day she behaved in that manner
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u/Square-Singer 2h ago
Is the story real if all the details about the person are wrong?
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u/broshrugged 2h ago
Nope, at this point it's hate bait against younger generations for "not wanting to work"
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u/TheBold 2h ago
I feel like these guys just have to basically turn off their soul when on the clock for self-preservation and being able to do their job. Ever heard how they sound on the phone?
-911 what’s your emergency? 🥱
-A MAN JUST STABBED AN OLD LADY AND HES NOW EATING HER FACE WHILE SHES STILL ALIVE nightmare fuel background noises
-Hmm k. And where are you? 🙄
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u/Nofreakncluwutimdoin 2h ago edited 1h ago
It really is a skill 😆. Years ago I interned with a County Sheriff's office in a rural area in the south. There was a dispatcher named Misty and it didn't matter what was happening she came on the radio completely calm and clear. We of course greatly appreciated this. Some dispatchers get excited, start stuttering, etc. Never Misty always clear, concise, and accurate.
I can still remember a night when she dispatched us to a suicide call. Its so clear I can hear her voice in my head, "1137 be advised caller advises her boyfriend called to her from the bedroom, waited for her to come to the door and shot himself in the head."
Our county was located near a military base that had nuclear capability. We used to joke that Misty would broadcast the nuclear apocalypse in the same tone of voice. "1137 be advised there's been a malfunction at the base. We are all going to die in the next 7 minutes. Have a good night." 😆
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u/soraiiko 2h ago
I feel like her soul might’ve been clocked out well before she even entered the building tbh.
I do think you’re right, but this woman looks like she’s not okay in the head.
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u/AvaryZig 5h ago
The simulation just be adding npcs without any quality control.
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u/testtdk 3h ago
It’s shocking that someone could even think that was a reasonable response.
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u/_TomSupreme_ 6h ago
She should get jail time.
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u/rathernot83 6h ago
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43822504
If this is her, she did. 10 days in jail, 18 months probation.
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u/TankApprehensive3053 5h ago
This says she was sentenced to 1 year in jail, probated for 18months, and with stipulations that Williams pay a fee to Crime Stoppers, take a “Thinking for a Change” course, participate in a weekend work program, and write an apology letter to the City of Houston.
https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/first-court-of-appeals/2019/01-18-00332-cr.html
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u/ReblWithoutApplause 5h ago
Holy shit, I took “Thinking for a Change” when I was in prison. Excellent programming, one of the few that were rehabilitative!
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u/JubijubCH 2h ago
I'm not a native English speaker, but isn't the name of this course a rude pun ? Could you be thinking, for a change ==> you usually don't think much. Is this a correct interpretation ?
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u/TooLazy2Revolt 5h ago
Thats awesome man, glad to hear it sounds like you are doing better!
Edit: you may want to update your username
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u/ReblWithoutApplause 4h ago
Why would I want to change my username?
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u/Snaka1 4h ago
You just got some applause 👏
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u/Amelaclya1 4h ago
Man, that's awesome that it helped you, but the name seems so patronizing to me.
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u/jvon24 4h ago
Unfortunately you can’t teach someone empathy. I’m a firm believer that these attitudes are a product of their environment and this was learned behavior from home…
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u/Sugarlightgirl 4h ago
Parents teach their children empathy everyday. Empathy is very teachable!
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u/firstonesecond 4h ago
I think they mean that some people are incapable of learning empathy
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u/Large_Dr_Pepper 2h ago
Your first sentence says you can't teach someone empathy, and your second sentence states that it's learned behavior from home. If it's learned behavior, then it's something that can be taught.
Prison should focus on correction and rehabilitation, not punishment. I'm not saying every single person is capable of rehabilitation, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.
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u/DenialState 5h ago
Honestly that kind of behavior makes me believe there’s something going on in her head. She totally deserves jail time but I wonder if she got psychological and/or psychiatric treatment.
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u/gogul1980 3h ago
She seemed to nope out completely didn't she? Whether she was in the middle of quitting or just couldn't take it anymore and quiet quit she is definitetly "not there" at that moment.
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u/Either-Outside6740 4h ago
I was thinking the same - maybe some undiagnosed ptsd going on.
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u/Hungry-san 4h ago
Yeah she very might have some secondary trauma from dealing with so much trauma herself.
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u/skiforlife1 4h ago
That's possible. It's also possible that she is a shitty human being who didn't feel like working. Neither of us know her personally but hanging up on 911 callers and then casually saying "I didn't feel like working" would suggest she is just a terrible person.
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u/UntitledImage 4h ago
Granted, but she also doesn’t serve the benefit of a doubt. If she was having trouble performing her job she should have told someone and sought help. Not put countless others lives in danger. I think at that point, it’s morally ok to suspend empathy for her.
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u/BigBeautifulEyes 4h ago
'thousands of calls were attributed to her hanging up'. How does it get so high before someone notices?
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u/Outrageous_Year4617 2h ago
I've had to call 911 and if she'd had hung up on me I'd be dead. She should have been tried for attempted murder.
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u/Curious-Resort4743 3h ago
It's not something anyone expects from staff in this role, and if you were on the receiving end and complained about it it's unlikely to be believed because it's such an unusual behavior for someone in that role.
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u/Strange-Spot-3306 2h ago
but its... thousands of calls and according to the article she did it systematically. like... how does that not get automatically flagged? i mean we opperate a small absolutely nonvital hotline. such a behaviour has been flagged within like two weeks and lead to terminations before.
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u/Civil_Ad_1895 4h ago
ages are different. your link says 44, the video says 23. so either one source is wrong or there was two different people with the same name that screwed up
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u/friendtoall84 4h ago
if it wasn’t for that pesky murderer. she probably would have made her 1,001 hung-up call. wild
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u/NoMedicine3572 5h ago
Yes, she was jailed and it's 2018 news: bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43822504
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u/chubsmagooo 3h ago
It says she is 44 in the article and it looks nothing like her. This video seems to be a dramatization
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u/CantaloupePutrid3548 2h ago
That lies about her age by 20+ years.
Somebody wants YOU angry at a different generation for a reason is my biggest takeaway from this entire story.
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u/EPluribusButthole 5h ago
Pfft, like that would ever happen to anybody working with police.
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u/saywhatnow117 5h ago
Your profile picture looks initially awful
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u/kaoscurrent 5h ago
Just initially? It looks awful right up to the point you zoom in.
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u/staysaltylol 5h ago
Zooming in doesn’t make it any better. It still looks like a kitten jammed into a crack.
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u/plutot_la_vie 5h ago
You're right, it looks like an ugly pussy but it's actually a really cute pussy!
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u/NoEstablishment7211 5h ago
It's working for him. I've seen them as a top response to a top comment in at least 2 other front page threads this week.
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u/Spaghettl_hamster4 5h ago
They really gotta zoom in on that cat, you can't be named butthole with a pfp of a blurry crack
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u/rillyhilarious 5h ago
Great profile pic!! At first I was horrified but then after zooming in I was delighted.
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u/Round-Foundation2948 5h ago edited 5h ago
23 years old. Generation Y Even Bother (Just Going To Quiet Quit And Let People Die) Didn’t Feel Like Working.
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u/Petit__Chou 4h ago
My mom did this job for 35 years, worked her way up into supervision- starting from the 70s. There were always people like that. I remember her talking about it in the fucking 90s.
But pop off lol
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u/Torakkk 4h ago
Wait, she worked as 911 operator for 35 years? Is that normal to work there for so long? In my country, we have 112 centre under firefighters, and they said, most people handle working dispatch max 2/3 years. From mental exhaustion. And then they usually switch positions.
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u/rathernot83 4h ago
In the states, it absolutely can be a career. I can't speak for all 50 States, just Iowa, but they get a pension, too.
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u/Torakkk 4h ago
Thats crazy, from experiences I heard from firefighters, most left after year or so, just because listening to people being hurt, or loved ones hurt or dead. It just takes mental toll on them, since you can't be there to help them. Just send units on their way and try to calm them and give instructions on what to do.
I assume, calling 911 works for every kind of emergency right? Medical, fire or police oriented issues. Is dispatch completly under police? Or how does it work, if you dont mind explaining please.
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u/Petit__Chou 4h ago
She did! She had a few police department jobs in that time too, very early and short. She did the job for a long time and then became a supervisor (still taking calls) and did QA for a tiny bit before she retired. That's a lot to explain so I simplified it.
She passed in 2022 at 68 and I miss her every day.
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u/Nashadelic 6h ago
she immediately caved in? saying she didn't feel like working was some way going to make sense?
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u/BrbFlippinInfinCoins 6h ago
seriously. what an odd exchange. I guess she knew the gig was up because there are probably recordings of every call? Still wild to say instead of like "the line cut out" or some other lame excuse
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u/qiterite 5h ago
Sounds horrible, but it also makes me wonder how long their shifts are, do they get breaks, and how many hours per week do they work. It’s a stressful job, I would hate to think they’re worked into a criminally indifferent attitude. With that said I sincerely hope the family she hung up on didn’t suffer harm because of her indifference.
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u/Any-Key-9196 5h ago
I tried to work as one while in college, its hell. Every call is someone's worst moments, and the shifts are god awful and management sucked. I lasted about 3 weeks before I got out of there.
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u/BarrelllRider 2h ago
My college roommate also worked at one. Quit after a WWII veteran called him, told him where to find his body, then offed himself on the phone with him.
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u/Petit__Chou 4h ago
My mom worked dispatch for 35 years, made supervisor and then QA, training, etc. I will tell you she had the shortest fucking fuse in the world.
There was one that stuck with her. Two kids walked to a payphone in winter, may have had snow. (mid 90s) to say they couldn't wake their mom up. Both kids the same age as me and my brother. Mom had OD'd. She never forgot it. Wasn't supposed to, but was able to get in contact with their aunt the next day and they both cried.
When my mom died, and officer came to the reception and told a story about how he pulled a car over, and the occupants came out and had guns drawn on him. He had been contacting my mom and she was calm, cool, collected and saved his life. I know that didn't rattle her then.
There have always been people like this video, the job is only for a certain type. She worked normal 8 hours, 40 a week. Overtime for weather and other emergencies, of course.
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u/americanremains 4h ago
Municipal is usually 8hrs/day with up to 8hrs mandatory overtime. 5days/week. Idk bout breaks as I do secondary PSAP but we don’t have mandated breaks and work 12 hr shifts though we can just get up and walk around freely if we are dispatching and if our partner covers while we are call-taking.
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u/AltruisticSalamander 3h ago
That's what I was thinking. This only makes sense if it's burnout. If she was really a pos she'd be lying and/or making excuses.
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u/Hour-Ad-9508 4h ago
What is with Reddit and never, ever, ever feeling like someone may just have no personal accountability or pride in their work?
Everything is ALWAYS someone or something else’s fault
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u/GeneralAnubis 4h ago
Extremely few things in the world happen without multiple contributing factors. Trying to figure them out is part of trying to solve the problem.
People who lack nuance or critical thinking skills want easy answers and take things at face value, which ultimately causes more problems than it solves.
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u/BlessdRTheFreaks 4h ago
I did 7 months as Crisis Support
I get it. I understand. At a certain point someone just can't stand the stress anymore and caves in. Pure physiology. Glad her punishment wasn't too severe, and I hope her negligence didn't cause too much damage.
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u/CantaloupePutrid3548 2h ago
Its a fake video trying to convince you shes from a different generation.
Shes currently 52, her trial happened in 2018.
But according to this video (that isn’t her) she was 23 when she was arrested?
That puts this video around 1997. Which is BS.
Somebody wants you angry at a younger generation for a reason.
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u/TYPrease 4h ago
It’s fake. There are at least three versions of this little snippet on YouTube, all with different actresses.
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u/zekethelizard 3h ago
I doubted it was real from the rip.. But god damn it, there is NOTHING real or original on the internet anymore
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u/Dafrandle 5h ago
the story is real,
but
this video is fake, I can tell by the monotone delivery and the grabbled text in the top right, and the person staring at turned off monitors in the middle left background
also this story is from 8 years ago
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u/interesting-turn- 5h ago
How are people not realizing this?? Also the Axon information is just completely wrong in the top right
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u/Hope8888 3h ago
This whole comment section is either really slow people or they are all bots themselves
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u/Laylelo 5h ago
I’m glad to see someone else say this. The cadence of the speaking, the lack of a pause to think before responding as though it’s a punchline in a skit that’s been rehearsed, the blank expression, it’s all obviously not real.
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u/BionicLifeform 5h ago
Also the fingers morphing through the keyboard in the first couple of seconds
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u/Low_Low_1811 4h ago
Incidentally, 911 operators and dispatchers do not wear uniforms, especially not with badges. They are not officers, and even if they were somehow also officers, they are not on duty. There is absolutely no way they could be be both a 911 operator and an officer.
I was an operator for 6 months. Phone operators and dispatch operators, usually the same people unless things get crazy, wear hoodies, or blankets if it gets cold. They wear comfy clothes because it already sucks sitting there for hours at a time talking to people in crisis situations.
They also dont have 3 piddly little screens, and arent out in an open office like that. They are in a secured room, they will have at least 4 very large screens, one with a permanent map, and the OS is entirely proprietary and does not look like Windows.
This immediately looked fake to me.
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u/Hope8888 3h ago
The fact that so many people in the comments think it’s real is scary, I knew in .5 seconds it was fake
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u/Hour-Ad-9508 4h ago
This is the same as that cop ripping up a ticket from a meter maid video that went viral a few months ago. Fake, staged content is now the norm
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u/VladlenaM2025 6h ago
What ever happened to her afterwards? Genuinely curious 🧐
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6h ago edited 32m ago
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u/TankApprehensive3053 6h ago
She should have been terminated after the jail time.
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u/Zhjacko 6h ago
Right, what the fuck
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u/Sad-Ad-6516 6h ago
Just curious cuz I dint know but did they say they never fired her?
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u/FirmlyClaspIt 5h ago
1 year in jail & 18 months probation sounds like firing to me
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u/Excellent_Garlic2549 5h ago
I'd be impressed if I walked back into my government job after that. I'm sure there are ways.
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u/sarahfrancesca 5h ago
I think the commenter I responded to may have thought that 18 months probation had to do with a probationary period at work, and I assumed that they just had more information than me. But now after reading the court document linked above, I highly highly doubt that she returned to that job.
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u/sarahfrancesca 5h ago
Speaking as someone who lives in a city that has had a significant dispatcher shortage the entire decade I've lived here, I can see why they kept her. Literally we just need bodies answering the phone. One time when I was being followed in my car, my 911 call was redirected to a neighboring city, and the operator couldn't tell me the address of the police station as I was trying to drive to it.
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u/Ok_Loss13 5h ago
But she wasn't answering the phone (well, not long enough to actually help anyone before hanging up)
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u/bigleft_oO 5h ago
is this some kind of shitty reenactment? Wearing a duty belt as a telecommunicator, and she looks nothing like the pictures you found online of the actual Crenshanda Williams. And 23 years old? Each article I found states that she is 44, and they're from 2018.
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u/IcyAnything6306 4h ago
You can tell by how monotone both voices are in the video. This is definitely computer generated.
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u/rathernot83 6h ago
Why is she wearing a duty belt? Lol
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u/TankApprehensive3053 6h ago
And a PD uniform.
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u/farts_juggler 6h ago
its her jobs uniform.
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u/ElColorado_PNW 5h ago
911 dispatchers get badges?
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u/ThetaDee 5h ago
Yes. They are treated with the same scrutiny as peace officers. Some departments even title them dispatch officer.
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u/farts_juggler 5h ago
Yes. every department is different. Many issue metal badges, some have embroidered badges, others have ID card badges. My girlfriend works at the courthouse in my county and was issued a badge and she’s not a “cop.”
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u/PreferredSex_Yes 5h ago
Texas doesn't allow law enforcement duties to be delegated so she is technically law enforcement. The DA has badges and a right to carry too.
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u/ApplicationRoyal865 6h ago edited 6h ago
I know dispatchers who also slacks on his calls. Whenever he gets a call about a homeless person found unconscious or needs medical help he flags it as the homeless person being "uncooperative" because that way it doesn't require medical and less work for him. He got into issues with it a year ago when some homeless guy died because of it when only the cops showed up, so now all his calls regarding homeless people are always scrutinized.
edit: the homeless person didn't die, but needed medical
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u/OwOwOwoooo 6h ago
Jesus.. a slap on the hand
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u/notarobat 6h ago
I mean they wouldn't be homeless if people cared. He's just another link in the chain
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u/blastman8888 6h ago
I've called 911 put on hold for 20 minutes. Reported a burglary of a home in progress cops never showed up. I followed them they drove into another neighborhood broke into another house I was parked up the street watching. I called again they said 'No one took your first call you want to cancel it". Phoenix police department in Arizona.
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u/TYPrease 4h ago
I think this is a fake video. There are three versions with different actresses on YT.
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u/Danno_Writes 6h ago
Why is she wearing a duty belt as a dispatcher? I've never seen a comm center that requires a bulky, useless piece of equipment like that to be a calltaker. So is she actually a dispatcher or is she a field responder being punished for an infraction by working in dispatch?
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u/SvenniSiggi 3h ago
Look at the video. It looks like a scene from a movie. Steady cam work. Clear image, completely in focus.
At a moment when there is absolutely no way it would have been filmed.
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u/niceguynotsonice 6h ago
But she is definitely not qualified for both, that's for sure.
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u/Jaay2525 6h ago
I hope Crinchanda gets that same amount of help someday when she’s frantically calling 911 during her own emergency.
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u/NoTimeForCautionCoop 5h ago
I used to work for Public safety for my county. I’ve seen this happen before and I’ve seen dispatchers fall asleep while on the floor. I’ve had to pull video recordings for hearings for dispatchers that were hard asleep while a call, or even multiple calls, was trying to come in.
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u/KnightOfSvea 6h ago
the "Im working!"
Followed by
"I didnt feel like working"
combo is some real heavy cognitive lifting
damn
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u/SeaCccat 5h ago
These jobs are some of the hardest and most stressful jobs. If she was having a bad day, she should have been able to call off or take some mental health time away. This is why folks should be able to have protections like FMLA, to have time to get your shit back together. Or they need to change professions.
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u/TankApprehensive3053 5h ago
It wasn't just that day. During a two month period she had the high amount of calls she hung up on be she didn't want to talk.
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u/Nicecoldbud 4h ago
The amount of clowns who think this is real shows the level of intelligence of reddit these days.
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u/CatchAcceptable3898 5h ago
What happened to the family? That's all I wanted to know.
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u/TankApprehensive3053 5h ago
It was a caller reporting an armed robbery of a gas station. She hung up on the caller, the 2nd call from the caller got routed to her again and she hung up again. The 3rd call from that caller went to a different dispatcher and assistance was provided.
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u/Round-Foundation2948 5h ago edited 5h ago
You didn’t feel like working (Gonna let people causally die today)!?!?!
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u/ScreechingPizzaCat 5h ago
There are jobs that you can laze around if you're not "feeling" it, a 911 dispatcher is NOT one of those jobs.
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u/Wesley11803 4h ago
I’m tempted to take a dispatcher job just so I can force cops to do their damn jobs.
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u/RealRichOne 3h ago
She's beyond stupid. She straight up just said she didn't feel like working. There should press charges against her. Her actions were criminal.
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u/Hungrymouthneeded 3h ago
The audacity that she can easily say I just didn’t feel like working is enough to let you know she is not qualified for the job because she couldn’t care less about the person on the other end that needs help.
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