UNCEREMONIOUS: Paul Rolle says he was prepared to resign over “instructions” from Minnis administration

UNCEREMONIOUS: Paul Rolle says he was prepared to resign over “instructions” from Minnis administration
Dozens of Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) officers attend the force’s annual church service at police headquarters on Sunday, January 3, 2021. (BIS PHOTO/ERIC ROSE)

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Outgoing Police Commissioner Paul Rolle said yesterday he was prepared to resign last year if the Minnis administration continued pressuring him to sideline senior officers, including incoming successor Clayton Fernander.

Rolle will demit office on July 5.

He was appointed commissioner in 2020.

In a candid farewell interview with Eyewitness News yesterday, Rolle admitted that the commissioner’s role does not always function as independently of the political directorate as many might think.

He said he demanded that the Minnis administration present its directive in writing when he was pressured to continue sidelining Deputy Commissioner Fernander, Assistant Commissioner Leamond Deleveaux and Assistant Commissioner Ken Strachan.

Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle

“They were asking me to extend the time and I said, you give it to me in writing and I’ll carry out your wishes,” Rolle said.

“And I think that’s when things got a little feisty because I stood my grounds and I continued to stand my grounds until I got an executive order.

“Then what do you do? I’m faced now with the position, either I carry out your instructions or leave.

“I was prepared to leave. The next week I got the dictates to dissolve Parliament, and I’m now the provost [Marshall]; I’m stuck, I couldn’t leave.”

The treatment of Fernander, Deleveaux and Strachan was one of the most controversial matters of Rolle’s tenure as deputy commissioner and commissioner of police.

The Minnis administration claimed that, in the interest of financial prudence, some officers were directed to take vacation leave because they had accumulated too many weeks of vacation.

Clayton Fernander
Deputy Commissioner of Police

The administration claimed it did not want to pay out a lot of money in overtime fees because officers reached retirement with a lot of available vacation days.

The purported policy was not applied evenly, however.

Strachan, for instance, had less vacation leave and was further away from the retirement age than Rolle, but was sent home while Rolle was promoted to the top post.

In his strongest comments yet on the matter, Rolle said the disrespect showed to his colleagues must never happen again.

He said: “You all saw what happened and some of my colleagues were placed on leave, okay, unceremoniously I would add. I never supported it.

“I kept trying to find out why. I could never get an answer. And I challenge anyone, anyone to prove me wrong on that.

“Now you come and you interview me next week, I may say some more, but I’m still commissioner and I must guard that.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Leamond Deleveaux.

“I must guard the heritage of the office of commissioner.”

Rolle said he tried several times last year to bring back the group of officers, but was rebuffed each time.

“I tried it again in March, tried it again in May and again in June,” he said.

“We had a deputy commissioner that was retiring and I said I need help.

“I was carrying this and I said, I’m going to bring them back and I was prevented from doing so.

“…So, when we then appointed (people to various posts), I did not have anyone on my team with CID experience.”

He continued: “In the process of time (Fernander) was treated poorly.

“I go on record by saying that.

“Him, Leamond Deleveaux, Ken Strachan, they were treated poorly.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kendal Strachan (FILE PHOTO)

“I say if you come to me next week I might say more, but you push me, you know, push that button.”

Notwithstanding the vast control the Police Act provides the commissioner to determine the direction of the force, Rolle claimed he had no choice but to follow the directions of the Minnis administration.

“Because you see the thing is you have Cabinet,” he said when asked about the independence of his role.

“I have to still carry out the wishes of Cabinet. So, you’re not really independent.

“You know, the government makes policies.

“I’m independent for running the force. So, he can’t tell me not to put someone before the court, that is vested in the authority of the commissioner.

“So, he may not like the fact that I’m doing an investigation and you try to influence that, I say no, I’m not listening to you.

“But when it comes administratively that’s a different kettle of fish, hey?

“So, people tend to get those mixed up.

Police Commissioner Paul Rolle, serving as provost marshal, reads a proclamation from the governor general proroguing Parliament on the steps of the House of Assembly on Wednesday, August 18, 2021.

“You have to carry out the wishes and that’s why I said to them, give it to me in writing.”

Rolle said he initially planned to resign last year because he was frustrated.

“I don’t think people, you know, they carry me hard, took me to war but I was dealing with Hurricane Dorian, remember?

“And then, we end up in the pandemic. And then, we had all of these different rules that I had to enforce,” he said.

“And then on top of that, you began cutting my budget.

“And I had suffered four budget cuts. And then, we had officers leave. I couldn’t hire and, you now, expecting me to do more with less and that kept on being more with less, more or less.

“Lord, please, if it be thy will, take this cup from me.

“But it wasn’t his will and when the government changed, I said to the prime minister then, listen my time up next year.”