A woman from Pinellas County reportedly called 911 11,000 times since the start of 2022 to belittle the local police department.
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According to a court affidavit, 51-year-old Carla Jefferson called 911 to belittle and harass officers repeatedly. She received a letter on May 12 from the police stating that if she continued to misuse the emergency number, she would face a charge for the offense. Ignoring the warning, Jefferson continued to call the St. Petersburg Police Department more than 1,000 times between May 15 and the end of June, as reported by Yahoo! News.
The calls were from two phone numbers registered under her name, making up ten percent of the total call volume of the department’s non-emergency calls.
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Additionally, on May 30, she made 406 calls to the department, and the calls were reportedly described as “vulgar, threatening, or obscene.” The affidavit also stated she made 512 calls to the St. Petersburg Police Emergency Communications Center in July alone.
Spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez said multiple tactics were used to get Jefferson to stop before she was arrested. The department’s mental health team attempted to help Jefferson, but it didn’t stop her from making consistent phone calls. There was one point when she made 1,000 calls in 24 hours.
“She doesn’t call to ask for any police services. She calls to harass, to cuss and just degrade the call takers. We’re kind of at a situation now where her calls are interfering with our ability to respond to regular residents who need police response.”
Jefferson was out on bond for the same offense when she was arrested two months ago. Earlier this week, Jefferson was charged with three misdemeanors for misusing the emergency number system and making phone calls to harass the police.