WATCH: New Selma police chief welcomed with ceremony

Selma Police Chief Ettice Brickus speaks at her public swearing-in ceremony, Thursday, October 8, 2026 – City of Selma

SELMA, Ala. (WAKA) – People in Selma have held a special ceremony to welcome Ettice Brickus, the city’s new police chief.

A public swearing-in ceremony was held at the Selma Convention Center yesterday. Brickus had actually already taken the position earlier this month after being selected to lead the department by the Selma City Council in early September.

Brickus was previously the chief of staff for the Montgomery Police Department. She has extensive experience in neighborhood patrols, investigations, special events, recruitment, juvenile and adult intake and records management. She also brings specialized knowledge in administrative operations and strategic planning.

She becomes the city’s first permanent Black female police chief.

Before her time in Montgomery, she was deputy chief of the neighborhood patrol division for the police department in Baltimore, Maryland.

Brickus has a doctoral candidacy at Gwynedd Mercy University and multiple degrees from The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore City Community College and the University of Maryland University College. She has training from Cornell University and the Senior Management Institute for Policing.

She is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, FBI LEEDA and the Police Executive Research Forum.