KANNAPOLIS — Police officers marched on city hall Monday to respond to what they say are City Councilman Richard Anderson’s attacks on their pay and benefits.

Officers in uniforms and plain clothes, many with their spouses and some with their children, filled Council Chambers, waiting more than two hours for a chance to speak.

They responded to comments Anderson made at a council business meeting last month criticizing the pay of some top city officials and pay increases some of them have received since 1997.

Anderson also questioned the city’s policy of paying police officers more if they have a college degree and awarding longtime city employees with longevity pay.

In some instances, Anderson said, the city is “playing Santa Claus.” The council agreed to conduct a salary and benefits study, which will take several months.

Police officers took exception to the “Santa Claus” reference.

“I’ve been an employee here for 24 years, and I find that comment disturbing,” said Lt. Steve May, head of the department’s criminal investigation division.

May said he works a second job, as many police officers do to make ends meet. He said his take-home salary has actually decreased three years in a row because of rising insurance costs for his family, now $416 a month minimum.

“That doesn’t sound like a visit from Santa Claus to me,”he said.

Officers said they were attracted to Kannapolis because of the benefits and the department’s solid reputation, factors that higher-ranking officials say help maintain professionalism and quality.

Police and city administration officials say those officers are highly sought-after by other police departments because of their professionalism and knowledge of the law.

Det. Luke Blume, who has been on the force 28 years, said the citizens of Kannapolis, as well as the elected officials, demand “knowledge, professional conduct, and the ability to get the job done.”

“As entertaining as it may be, when people call 911, he or she does not want Barney Fife,” he said. “They want somebody who can get the job done.”

Others said they feel slighted by Anderson’s comments because they put their lives on the line daily, and have to deal with all the stress that comes with that part of the job.

Several evoked the name of Roger Dale Carter, a Kannapolis police officer ambushed and shot to death with an assault rifle on New Year’s Eve 1993 when he went to a home to serve warrants.

Officer Scott Boggs placed a plaque bearing Carter’s picture on an easel facing the council and left it there.

“We sacrifice on a daily basis more than you can fathom,” Boggs said to the council. “To sit back and say we’re not worth what we get ... that the city of Kannapolis is playing Santa Claus to police officers, I personally take it as a slap in the face.”

At least one officer questioned the accuracy of Anderson’s information. Capt. Terry Clanton said the pay increases he’s received since 1997 are nowhere near the 44 percent increase Anderson’s document showed.

Anderson said he got the old salary figures from former City Manager Gene McCombs in 1997, when Anderson was still mayor. The latest figures were provided by the city, he said.

He said Monday that he was not referring in general to police pay and benefits when he made the Santa Claus comment. He was referring to the pay of top city officials.

“I didn’t say all salaries are exorbitant,” he said. “What I’m trying to get this city to do is recognize the disparity between the bottom and the top.”

Still, he said, he opposes the city’s longevity pay policy, which provides extra compensation “simply for being on the payroll.” He said other cities have dropped it.

And he said the education benefits need a look. Police officers receive a yearly addition to their base pay after completing education requirements while other employees don’t, he said.

Other cities pay incentives for education, he said, but don’t continue paying those incentives after the employee finished the educational program.

“That needs to be addressed,” he said. “I’m still for addressing the pay and benefits program, and I’m still going to ask for that.”

Councilman Roger Haas, who is not seeking re-election, told officers he wouldn’t vote to eliminate police benefits.

Mayor Pro Tem Ken Geathers — running the meeting in the absence of Mayor Ray Moss, who is attending a mayor’s conference this week — said council members “love and respect” the police department.

Geathers called Anderson’s comments “political” and born of ambition. He said he meant that Anderson is trying to rally support for a mayoral run.

“He needed a controversy. He needed to say something,” Geathers said.

It’s a general consensus among council members that Anderson will challenge Moss this year for mayor, though Anderson — who lost the office to Moss in 1997 — hasn’t committed to it.

“I don’t see anything wrong with doing that, but to say inflammatory things like “Santa Claus” and that we have exorbitant salaries, that’s ridiculous,”he said. “The people of Kannapolis know better.”

Contact Scott Jenkins at 704-797-4248 or sjenkins@salisburypost.com .