Thursday afternoon four Selma police officers were promoted for their hard work and dedication to the department.

Natasha Fowlkes made history by being named the department’s first African American female captain. Evenly Ghant was promoted from sergeant to lieutenant, and both Mark Neely and Michael Kiser were promoted to sergeant.

All four of them should be proud of this moment. Rising up the ranks is never easy, whether it is in law enforcement or the military or any other profession. Congratulations to all four officers on a job well done.

Selma Police Chief Spencer Collier said each one of them earned this promotion. We have seen the hard work they have put in, whether it is spending countless hours away from their families on special details, training and recruiting other officers or helping lead the department.

We hope their accomplishments can serve as encouragement to other officers within the department to continue the good work and continue to protect Selma. We salute the men and women of the police department for their hard work.