News-Record.com

Some of you may have read about a traffic stop last week involving Greensboro City Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small.

Here’s what we know for sure: A blue Dodge minivan with the license tag TDBS was stopped at 11:21 p.m. Feb. 6 by Officer Michael Calvert, who has been on the force about a year. The event report gives us precious few details beyond that, except that the stop took 13 minutes.

Officials with the police department have told Eric J.S. Townsend, our public safety reporter, there won’t be further comment about the incident. We are continuing to press our police sources for more on the record details.

I tried to ask Bellamy-Small about this on Tuesday night, when she was at City Hall for a closed meeting related to the ongoing police investigation. She said I needed to fax my questions to her (this is a standard response; she asks that all our communication come via fax). I asked if I could ride the elevator to the parking garage with her so we could talk. She then asked a security guard to escort her to her car.

So we faxed her several questions: What were the circumstances of the stop? What was the conversation between you and Officer Calvert? What was the outcome of the stop? Have you filed a complaint with Internal Affairs regarding the incident?

Here is her response:

"First of all, Ms. Banks, every aspect of my private life is not up for scrutiny unless it is somehow related to my public service.

"Routine traffic stops happen in the city probably every hour of every day. I am proud of the fact that our Greensboro Police Dept. is out there executing their duty to proved (sic) safety and security for all citizens including me.

"There was not incident (sic) involving this stop. The officer and I concluded our conversation and there was not problem (sic) to report. Thank you."

We’re continuing to work on this story, I promise you.