Law & Crime reports !
A Louisiana woman and 911 dispatcher is currently wanted by authorities in New Orleans after allegedly fielding several emergency calls and then hanging up on people in need of assistance.
Precious Stephens, 25, stands accused of malfeasance in office and interfering with an emergency communication for allegedly disconnecting calls without gathering the requisite information or relaying the callers’ needs to other dispatchers or authorities.
According to the New Orleans Police Department, Stephens is at large and has a warrant out for her arrest on both charges.
“Working as a 911 operator with the Orleans Parish Communications District at the time, she is wanted for allegedly disconnecting 911 calls deliberately without obtaining necessary emergency information or relaying such emergencies to the other dispatchers for aid,” the NOPD noted in a press release. “The report was taken on August 23, 2021.”
According to local ABC affiliate KATC, Stephens was fired from her job as of late last month.
The communication district allegedly noticed something odd about Stephens’s phone calls during her shifts on Aug. 20 and 21, officials told The Times-Picayune. Those problems were uncovered during an investigation into the quality of a random sampling of calls.
Those internal protocols, however, turned up more than audio quality issues, officials say. Stephens was immediately dismissed and her information was turned over to the police.
New Orleans 911 Dispatcher on the Run After Repeatedly Hanging Up on People With Emergencies: Police
