Officers who participated in last month’s sick out will be required to produce a doctor’s note for their absence from work, according to Selma Mayor George Evans.

Evans said each officer would have to provide a doctor’s note to Police Chief John Brock and Human Resources Director Valerie Jones if they wanted to be paid for the time.

“If they can’t produce one, then, naturally, their pay will be cut,” Evans said.

During the sickout, Brock said officers could be absent up to five days before being required to provide a doctor’s excuse for missing work.

Evans said the city’s policies require a note after five days, but supervisors can ask for one before then or for any given day.

“We want to make sure we follow the law and the policy,” Evans said.

City Councilwoman Bennie Ruth Crenshaw asked if the council could do anything to override that requirement.

“I don’t think we need to be vindictive … I don’t think we should penalize them for that,” Crenshaw said.

Most of the officers have already provided a doctor’s note, according to Evans.

Evans said he believes officers had no legitimate reason to walk off the job, and they had already started calling in sick before even meeting with the mayor and city council.

“It was political. I’ll say that all over the world. Why now? Why then?” Evans said. “This problem has been existing a long time. They chose to do it at the time they felt they could have the greatest impact.”

Starting Aug. 11, all patrol officers called in sick for at least four days. Officers publicly demanded pay increases and equipment upgrades.

The number of officers missing work dwindled as the month progressed, but all eventually returned to their normal shifts.

The Selma City Council voted Aug. 18 to give all first responders, including the police and fire departments, raises starting Oct. 1 but haven’t yet announced how much the increases will be.