Childhood dream leads Joshua Rolle from The Bahamas to Toronto policing
August 31, 2026
When Joshua Rolle first saw his father in police uniform at age four, he thought he was a superhero.
More than two decades later, retired Bahamian police officer Brian Rolle travelled to Toronto with his wife to present his son with his badge on August 20 as Joshua began the next chapter of a policing journey inspired by his father.
For the younger Rolle, the moment represented the fulfilment of a childhood ambition and the continuation of a family tradition in a new country.
“I was a big fanatic for superheroes when I was a little kid,” he recalled. “The first time I saw my dad in his tunic, I asked my mother why he was dressed like that and what he was doing. She told me he was a police officer, and I asked, ‘Is he a hero?’ Seeing him in uniform looking like a superhero sparked a huge interest in me.”
As he grew older, Rolle came to understand that policing was not about the uniform. It was about service, responsibility and helping communities maintain order.
“I love helping people and I have always felt strongly about bringing order to situations,” he said. “I don’t like chaos. When I realized that many of my personal traits aligned with policing, I knew it was what I wanted to do. I also didn’t want to sit behind a desk all day. I wanted to be out there doing something and feeling that I was making a difference.”
Brian Rolle knew better than most what the career demanded. He served with the Royal Bahamas Police Force for 38 years before retiring as a chief superintendent in 2025. Although his example helped inspire his son, he initially opposed Joshua following him into policing.
“I never wanted him to join the force,” the elder Rolle said. “His mother and he worked behind the scenes, and he joined without me knowing. One day, I got a call from the college saying Joshua had been approved. I was in shock.”
Brian Rolle presented Joshua Rolle with his badge in the presence of Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw (Photo by Trevor Owens)
Rolle understood his father’s reservations, but he was determined to pursue the career he had imagined since childhood.
When he told his father, “Dad, I’m going to do this one for you,” he did more than fulfil a childhood promise. He excelled during training in Nassau and received the Baton of Honour as the most outstanding recruit in his class.
His father was not surprised.
“From what I was seeing, he made sure all of his squad mates were up to date with what they were supposed to do,” Brian said. “He made sure he brought all of them along.”
The training took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, when recruits were required to remain on campus, including on weekends. The days began with physical training at 4 a.m. and emphasized discipline, drills and operational deployment.
“Because I was single and did not yet have children, I was able to concentrate fully on completing the demanding program,” Rolle said.
His father recalled that when Joshua first returned home from the academy, his disciplined manner was so pronounced that his mother wondered what had happened to her son. He eventually relaxed, but his commitment to policing remained strong.
Rolle requested an assignment with mobile patrol because he wanted to learn the streets. During nearly four years responding to calls and building relationships with residents and business owners, he developed a community-policing approach grounded in collaboration with the people he served.
“At times, only one other officer and I were assigned to cover an entire division on the night shift,” he said. “There were situations I had to handle alone, and communication was my most valuable tool. I learned to talk to people, think clearly and find ways to resolve difficult situations.”
Although he sometimes had to draw his firearm or use physical force, Rolle was never injured on duty and never fired his weapon at anyone.
“You have to build that connection with the community,” he said. “When you police people, it should not feel as though you are simply enforcing something against them. It should feel as though you are working together for the benefit of both sides.”
His work earned the respect of senior officers, who often contacted his father to praise the young constable.
“Senior officers would call me and say, ‘I don’t know what you put into this young man, but whatever you and your wife did, you should be proud,’” Brian recounted.
A subsequent transfer to the Airport and Harbour Division exposed Rolle to visitors from around the world and prepared him for the cultural diversity he would later encounter in Toronto.
“At the airport, I dealt mainly with tourists coming from many different places,” he said. “For some of them, I was one of the first people they met when they arrived in The Bahamas. That was my first real exposure to such a diverse range of people.”
Rolle’s move to Canada was motivated by love.
He and his wife were childhood neighbours in Freeport before she migrated to Canada. They reconnected through social media in 2021, began dating and married the following year.
Rolle visited Canada several times, including for an extended period after their son was born in 2023, before joining his family permanently in June 2025.
Joshua Rolle with his wife Akiri Rolle (r) & his proud parents Brian and Shirley Rolle (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“My wife loves Canada and didn’t want to return to The Bahamas,” he noted. “I knew that if I was moving here, I wanted to continue policing because that is my passion.”
Rolle began researching Canadian police services after getting married. The Toronto Police Service emerged as his preferred choice because his wife lived in the city, the population was diverse and the organization offered a range of career opportunities.
“My policing experience in The Bahamas was mainly within the Black community,” he said. “I had never experienced working with so many different cultures, and I was curious about that. Toronto also has many divisions and plenty of opportunities to grow.”
Another important factor was the Service’s emphasis on officers’ mental health and well-being.
Rolle said police officers may learn to set aside their emotions to cope with traumatic incidents and the daily pressures of the profession. Over time, however, repeatedly suppressing those feelings can make it more difficult to process trauma, personal loss and grief.
“In policing, we learn to put those emotions into a separate box,” he said. “After a while, we may no longer know how to open that box and reconnect with them. There have been losses in my personal life when everyone else was grieving and I carried on as if it was another day.”
The repeated emphasis during his Toronto training on therapy, wellness and monitoring one’s mental health reassured him that he had chosen the right police service.
“I am still trying to move away from that mindset of ‘suck it up and carry on,’” Rolle said. “In every class here, they spoke about your wellbeing, checking your mental health and getting help when you need it. That made me realize this was definitely the place for me.”
His policing journey has taken him from the Royal Bahamas Police Force, established in 1840, to the Toronto Police Service, whose origins date to 1834, linking two institutions with nearly two centuries of history.
Assigned to 55 Division, which includes Toronto’s east-end Beaches neighbourhood, Rolle looks forward to learning more about the city while sharing the lessons he acquired in The Bahamas.
He also hopes eventually to mentor newer officers and help them avoid shortcuts that could compromise their service to the public.
“I found joy in teaching new officers the proper way to do things,” said Rolle, who received the Harry Mayzel Leadership Award. “When officers take shortcuts, there can be serious repercussions, and we may fail to serve our communities properly. I want to keep learning, maintain my passion for the job, and help others grow.”
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw presented the Harry Mayzel Leadership Award to Joshua Rolle (Photo by Trevor Owens)
Having his parents travel from The Bahamas for his graduation brought Rolle’s journey full circle. The father whose uniform had once made him appear larger than life was now placing a badge on the son who had followed his example.
The country and police service may have changed, but the purpose that captured Rolle’s imagination as a young child remains constant. The superhero image has given way to a more mature understanding of policing—one grounded not in extraordinary powers, but in discipline, compassion, communication and service.
