The city of Selma is doing a good job to make nightclubs safer for its citizens by putting an ordinance in place to require nightclubs and lounges to install security cameras inside and outside their buildings.

Council President Corey Bowie hosted a meeting Thursday night to give nightclub owners a chance to share their input about the ordinance, which could be voted on and passed in the next couple of weeks.

We wish more clubs were represented at Thursday’s meeting, but regardless of how many showed up, Bowie, Police Chief William Riley and city attorney Jimmy Nunn were able to get some useful feedback.

We think it is important for the city to work with the nightclubs to make sure they are behind the ordinance.

Without their compliance, it would be difficult to put the ordinance into place and make clubs safer for patrons and the police department’s job a little easier by helping them identify people responsible for crimes.

The city did a good job in hosting the meeting because it wasn’t something they were required to do, according to Bowie.

While the ordinance was already written, the meeting allowed people to come together and point out the missing parts of the puzzle.

We would like to see the ordinance put into place as soon as possible to cut down on crime committed at clubs and lunges, but we understand that it is an investment for club owners to buy cameras and the proper equipment to be able to record and store at least 30 days of footage.

We hope the ordinance is passed as quickly as possible so those club owners can go ahead and make the changes they need to make sure their establishment is in compliance with it.

If the city expects this change to run smoothly, it must put in the work it needs to notify clubs of all the changes that need to be made and the requirements they will be expected to maintain.

We look forward to seeing how the addition of security cameras affect the crime rate at nightclubs, and help law enforcement solve crimes that would have gone unsolved without cameras.