KANNAPOLIS — Downtown Kannapolis has developed into a bustling locale, attracting people from all over to see what it has to offer. In order to keep the downtown safe for everyone who visits, local law enforcement has formed what Chief of Police Terry Spry describes as a “blended project.”

During Monday night’s city council meeting, Chief Spry presented a public safety enhancement plan to showcase what the police department is doing to address the need for further presence in the growing downtown area. The central places that will have more coverage to them is Atrium Health Ballpark, the social district along West Avenue, and Veteran’s Park. Spry went through the four different kinds of officers that will be available to enforce regulations for all citizens: auxiliary police officers, park rangers, school resource officers and sworn officers.

Auxiliary police officers are mostly made up of recently retired officers who are there to help with city events. They are part-time employees with varying hours who get paid $20 an hour. They have full enforcement authority. The city has four positions funded with future ones included in the 2024 budget and the six-year financial plan.

Spry introduced two new park rangers to council who will tackle problems dealing with the parks. Candidates are typically people who are not old enough to attend formal training, but want to get used to the world of law enforcement. Though park rangers do not have full enforcement authority, they will be in constant contact with other officers to let them know of any disturbances that occur. Adding more auxiliary officers is considered more cost effective, so there is no funding for park rangers in the city’s six-year financial plan.

Since school will no longer be in session this summer, school resource officers will be around for the next few months to assist where help is needed. They are sworn officers with full enforcement authority as well. There are five resource officer positions now with two more being funded in the future.

Overall, the most expensive option for downtown public safety is having more full-time officers present. This requires hiring candidates and getting them through training, which takes up to a year to complete. The other options come at a reduced rate for the city because the initial cost to fill the position is either lower or they work less consistently than full-time officers.

In response to not having enough personnel in the downtown area, Spry said that “We have to be responsible to everywhere in this city.” According to Spry, Kannapolis adds new full-time positions based off of anticipated growth and no funds have been set aside in the 2024 budget to hire a full-time officer.

“I don’t feel comfortable coming to you and asking for positions that I can’t fill,” Spry said.