By Terry Witt Spotlight Senior Reporter

                A 51-year-old Williston police sergeant who has won state and national awards for valor and bravery in the line of duty was approved by the City Council Tuesday to be the city’s next police chief.

            Mike Rolls, who is the first African American to be named chief of police in Williston, was nominated by Mayor Jerry Robinson and approved on a 3-2 vote of the council.

            Police Chief Dennis Strow, 67, who is retiring after 50 years as a police officer, said all four of the applicants for the chief’s job were active officers in the Williston Police Department and all would have done a good job.

            “Mike is very much of a people person, very involved in the community, very energetic,” Strow said. “He’s been here 2 ½ years. I think him or anyone else in this pool of applicants could take the police department to the next level. We’re going to be good.”

            Strow said Rolls was shot three times while carrying out his duties as a Marion County sheriff’s deputy in 2002 and wasn’t expected to walk again but regained the use of his legs.

            Rolls describes himself as a “very community-oriented person.” In order to be successful at anything, he said a person has to be very involved in the community.

            “What I bring to the table is building that bridge between law enforcement and the community. We have a bridge, but the bridge needs to be improved. If you don’t have a relationship with the community, you can’t improve the bridge,” Rolls said.

            “That’s one of the things I bring to the table, not to say anything bad about the other candidates, but that is one of my strong points is to communicate effectively and clearly with the community to build that bridge so we can all work together, respect one another, have trust in one another and work together to keep the community safe,” he said in an interview during a break in the council meeting.

            Asked if he thought there was a divide between what is known as East Williston and the City of Williston in the west, he said he has heard there’s a gap between the two.

            “It’s one of the things we have to focus on, instead of labeling one part as one area, if we’re going to work together as a whole and have a community as a whole, then there’s no such thing as east and west,” he said. “That is something I’ll try to work on with the council to get that removed because you’re stereotyping. That’s not what we need if we’re truly concerned about rebuilding the community.”

            Rolls worked at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Ocala from 1990 until he was hired by Strow as a Williston police officer. Past assignments at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office included corrections assistant, corrections officer, Major in corrections, assistant bureau chief of patrol, field training officer for the Patrol Bureau, SWAT member of Patrol Bureau, drug enforcement agent for the Detective Bureau, and major in the Drug Enforcement Unit.

            Awards received:

• 2003 Florida Retail Federation Law enforcement Officer of the Year
• 2003 Florida Sheriff’s Association Deputy Sheriff of the Year
• 2003 First ever Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award, Florida Attorney General’s Office
• 2003 National Deputy Sheriff of the Year
• 2002 Marion County Sheriffs’ Office – Purple Heart
• 2002 Marion County Sheriff’s Office – Medal of Valor
• 1999 Marion County Sheriff’s Office – Medal of Distinction
• 1997 Marion County Sheriff’s Office – Medal of Distinction
• 4 Eagle Eye Awards presented by the sheriff for services above the call of duty.

            Rolls is the father of two children, a son 22 and a daughter 24 (passed away), and father of three stepchildren, a 26-year-old son, a 14-year-old son, and, a 13-year-old daughter.

            He is a 1990 graduate of Vanguard High School in Ocala. He is a graduate of the Central Florida Community College Correction Officer Training Program in Ocala, a graduate of the Withlacoochee Technical Institute Law Enforcement Training Program in Inverness, and a graduate of Saint Leo Supervisor Command School.

            At the time he joined the Williston Police Department, Rolls was a member of Progressive Union Baptist Church, President (Exalted Ruler) of Ocala Elks Lodge, District chairman of the Drug Awareness Program of the Elks, worked with Community with a Heart – assisting families with home repairs, and also worked with A Sister Love International Inc. assisting domestic violence survivors to move them into safe housing and providing them with furniture and household items.’

            He has served as a Boy Scouts of America Award Presenter.

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City of Williston Regular Meeting March 8, 2022, Posted March 9, 2022