‘I don’t know why I did it’

Published 6:31 pm Thursday, June 18, 2009

CHATSWORTH — Billie Jane Allen was on the job at the Murray 911 Center in February when her husband called to say their house was on fire.

“We lost everything we had,” she said on Thursday just days after being suspended from her position as a 911 operator for “running” a license plate on a 911 computer for a friend. “Things haven’t been right in my mind,” she said. “We’ve struggled, and it’s been hard. I don’t know why I did it.”

Allen, 32, of 356 W. Walnut St., was arrested on Monday and charged with felony computer invasion of privacy by the Murray County Sheriff’s Office. Also arrested for computer invasion of privacy on Monday was Regina Lynn Blackwell, 35, of 603 Parson Road, Apt. 4, in Spring Place. The arrests came as the result of an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) into Allen’s “running” of a license plate at Blackwell’s request, said Chief Deputy Ray Sitton.

Commissioner David Ridley said on Tuesday that Allen would be fired by the end of the day on Wednesday, but on Thursday she was still only suspended with pay.

“Her employment will end (Friday),” said Ridley on Thursday, then referred a reporter to county manager Tom Starnes in regard to her employment status.

“There’s a potential for litigation,” Starnes said. “I’m not at liberty to make a whole lot of comments. There’s personnel issues that could impact other issues.”

Allen said she has worked as a 911 dispatcher for four years. She said she did not know why Starnes would say she might be willing to sue the county.

“The county’s been good to me,” she said. “Any way you look at it, what I did was wrong. My director (Peggy Vick) is a wonderful person, and David Ridley is a wonderful person who’s done a lot for the county. I know I’ve lost my job, but I can’t tell you why I did it.”

Allen said Vick, Ridley and sheriff’s office Detective John Cherry knocked on her door Monday and Ridley asked for her “county equipment” — a 911 office key and her headset. She was already expecting the worst.

“A detective from the GBI called before then and said there was going to be a warrant served on me, and that he would give me time to turn myself in,” she said. Allen said she asked Cherry to go ahead and take her to the jail so she could turn herself in on Monday. She was released later that day on a $1,000 bond.

The supervisor at the GBI regional office in Calhoun was out of town on Thursday. Allen said she does not know how or why the GBI became involved.

“I don’t know why (Blackwell) wanted me to run the number,” she said. “I don’t even remember what the number was — it happened in April. But with the GBI and John Cherry involved, it’s obvious something bigger’s going on, and I don’t want to know (what it is).”

Allen said she went to Ridley’s office on Tuesday and apologized to him.

“I told him I was sorry for letting him down,” she said. “Besides my husband and my kids, my job was everything to me. I worked hard to get the certifications I had and now I’m going to lose them. I love going to work and helping people. We’re like a family. Now I don’t know what I’ll do. Dispatching is all I know, and now I may have a felony. It’s going to be hard to find work.”

Allen said she still has not received any documentation from the county regarding her suspension or possible termination. Blackwell was released from jail on Tuesday on a $1,000 bond. A phone number for her could not be found.