On Thursday, Sept. 3, the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department put out a press release to offer the department’s view of a Facebook post critical of the action of three deputies.

The release states that Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers had received several inquiries regarding the Facebook post by “Mr. Bishop S. Davis Sr.” The post, dated Wednesday, Sept. 2, alleges that Mr. Davis’ son was shown extreme disrespect by Sheriff’s Department deputies during a traffic stop this week in Greensboro.

After watching videos of the incident, Rogers said he was standing by the actions of the deputies in question.

The post states that Davis’ son, an eighth grade English teacher, was stopped by three sheriff’s deputies and treated unprofessionally. It claims the officers said he had a “girl’s” name and asked him, for no reason, if he had a drugs or guns in the car. According to the post, the deputies were derisive and also questioned whether he really was a teacher.

The Sheriff’s Department completely rejects that characterization of the events.

“Sheriff Rogers takes any citizen complaint seriously,” the press release states. “He has, however, personally reviewed this matter, including the video footage recorded by the Deputies’ cameras, and stands by his Deputies’ actions. Specifically, this was a lawful traffic stop that was initiated for valid reasons — the license tags and registration on the vehicle owned and operated by Mr. Davis’s son had expired over nine months ago on November 30, 2019.”

According to the Sheriff’s Department, footage of the incident shows that the deputies treated the driver “professionally and respectfully.” The deputies also, according to the department, didn’t question the driver’s credentials as a schoolteacher as was claimed in the Facebook post.

“In fact, they thanked and complimented him for his service as an educator,” the statement from the department claimed. “The Deputies also exercised their discretion by not issuing the driver a citation. In short, the video contradicts the account on yesterday’s Facebook post, and Sheriff Rogers welcomes Mr. Davis and his son to meet with him at the Sheriff’s Office to review the video together.”  

Sheriff Rogers stated in the press release that he wants to use this as an opportunity to stress to Guilford County residents that his deputies are not conducting traffic stops in a discriminatory manner.