Badge at risk: State panel recommends lifetime certification ban of Deschutes County Sheriff Kent van der Kamp
(Update: Adding video)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Just an hour after the Police Policy Committee of Oregon's public safety regulator board voted unanimously Thursday to recommend a lifetime ban on Deschutes County Sheriff Kent van der Kamp's police certification, he announced that he plans "retirement in the coming months."
Members of the committee said they voted in favor of removing van der Kamp's certification because of numerous false or misleading statements uncovered in their investigation.
Here is the statement in full that van der Kamp provided to KTVZ News:
"While my legal team was limited in the scope of information we were permitted to present today, I am proud of the clarity and professionalism with which they outlined the facts and defended my record with the written materials. I am, however, disappointed that the committee appeared to disregard the absence of actual evidence in the historic La Mesa matter and instead relied on speculation and subjective impressions in reaching their decision.
"To the dedicated men and women of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and the community we serve, I offer my deepest and most sincere apologies. This outcome is not what I, nor the community, expected or deserve. I recognize the weight of this moment and the impact it has on all of you—my colleagues, supporters, and the people who placed their trust in my leadership. I am incredibly grateful for the past 23 years of service in this county—for the unwavering support, the camaraderie, and the friendships built through years of shared commitment to public safety.
"During my tenure, I was honored to lead a cultural shift at the Sheriff’s Office—ending patterns of retaliation, reducing exposure to lawsuits, transparent hiring and promotional processes, streamlining operations to protect taxpayer money with a streamlined budget, and rebuilding vital partnerships with other county departments, public safety agencies, and community organizations. These are just a few priorities we met in record time.
"Following today’s hearing, my team will begin the appeals process in hopes of correcting the record. According to DPSST officials, my certifications remain in good standing pending the outcome of the appeal. I will provide more updates when I get them.
"In the meantime, my family and I are continuing to make plans for my retirement in the coming months. I remain grateful for the opportunity to have served this county for the past 23 years."
END OF STATEMENT
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At least two local elected officials - county Commissioner Tony DeBone and Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler - said Thursday that van der Kamp should step down immediately.
First, here's DeBone's statement:
"Public Safety is the number one priority for Deschutes County. If you are a long-time resident or moved here recently, if you are a tourist, friend or relative visiting. Public Safety is number one! From patrol to the jail or detectives and search and rescue the Sheriff’s office is fundamental in providing service for the community. I want to thank all of the Sheriff’s office members that serve the community all year long.
"Retired Deschutes County Sheriff Les Stiles quote: “Do the hard right not the easy wrong”
"As your County Commissioner, I work with the Sheriff’s office in Financial, Personnel and Legal matters. Today (May 22, 2025) the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) Police Policy Committee has voted unanimously to revoke van der Kamp’s certification. I now ask that Kent van der Kamp please walk away so the community can move forward.
"The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners will appoint a new Sheriff before the next election cycle," DeBone concluded.
In response to a question from KTVZ News, DeBone added that he meant van der Kamp should resign "immediately. He is elected and can drag this out for a while, but I can not support the top public safety official in our county not being trustworthy."
Fellow Commissioner Phil Chang shared with us a column he wrote also calling for van der Kamp to step down.
Appreciate the Sheriff and Request his Resignation
We can both appreciate an elected official and, simultaneously, know that they can’t continue to serve. 10 years ago, John Kitzhaber resigned shortly after being sworn in for a 4th term as Oregon’s Governor. Parts of Kitzhaber’s story provide useful insights as the people of Deschutes County seek a path forward after revelations about past dishonest testimony under oath by now Sheriff Kent van der Kamp about his educational background.
Kitzhaber accomplished great things as Governor – from salmon recovery to overhauling our health care system to land conservation and more. But he made a mistake which made it impossible for him to continue to serve. At that moment, we could both appreciate the Governor’s many accomplishments and still want him to resign to spare our State a long distracting scandal.
Candidate and now Sheriff van der Kamp deserves our appreciation for many things. Former Sheriff Nelson was a toxic leader who ruled the Sheriff’s Office through fear and intimidation. Staff were so afraid of Nelson’s retribution that almost no one had the courage to run against him and his chosen successor in 2024. Van der Kamp was brave enough to do so. When van der Kamp stepped up to run, the members of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Employee’s Association found hope that someone might deliver them from Nelson’s rule and voted by an overwhelming margin to endorse van der Kamp. Immediately after van der Kamp won the election, morale at the Sheriff’s Office surged and so did employee recruitment.
Van der Kamp has also been a pro-active and disciplined fiscal leader. Sheriff Nelson cut taxes at a time when the Sheriff’s Office really needed the revenue and then raised taxes by three times as much just a few years later when the Office was on the edge of a fiscal cliff. Nelson’s own poor personnel decisions resulted in lawsuits alleging wrongful termination, gender-related discrimination and harassment, tampering with internal investigations, and retaliation. In aggregate, the legal penalties, settlement fees, and other costs of litigation that Nelson inspired cost $2.9 million.
Even as Nelson turned away needed tax revenue and racked up legal expenses, he showed up each of the last 4 years to County Budget Committee meetings complaining that the $55 million generated by the Sheriff’s Office taxing districts didn’t produce enough revenue and demanding that other County revenue streams bail him out.
But last week, Sheriff van der Kamp delivered a thoughtful, balanced budget to the Budget Committee that was swiftly and smoothly approved. He worked with his team and with County Finance staff to understand the resources he had to work with, the commitments and required expenditures of the Sheriff’s Office, and where efficiencies could be implemented. Van der Kamp has helped the Sheriff’s Office to live within its means and was even able to add 20 more deputies for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
Kent van der Kamp has helped Deschutes County turn the page on a very problematic leader. We now have a window of opportunity to reclaim the culture of the Sheriff’s Office – for service, integrity, team work, and merit. But while Sheriff van der Kamp has helped the Sheriff’s Office on its journey to a new promised land, completing the journey may require that he stays behind.
The opportunity to establish a new culture at the Sheriff’s Office will require that van der Kamp can recognize what Sheriff Nelson could not – that the Sheriff is not above the law. In this moment, Sheriff van der Kamp can put concern for his team first and demonstrate integrity and an understanding that the rules apply to him too. By doing so, van der Kamp can distinguish himself from his predecessor and finish turning the page on Sheriff Nelson.
Then we can fully appreciate van der Kamp for restoring morale, integrity, care for others, and fiscal responsibility to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office," Chang concluded.
Meanwhile, Bend Mayor Melanie Kebler told KTVZ News: "The Sheriff is no longer fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer for the county. He should resign immediately and cease taking a publicly paid salary, now that the panel has recommended his law enforcement credentials be revoked by DPSST. Public trust cannot be repaired at this point. "
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The state panel voted first to agree there were aggravating factors, then to recommend a lifetime ineligibility for police certification after it reviewed an investigative report that found van der Kamp had failed to disclose his previous work as a police cadet in Southern California and falsely claimed law degrees in three criminal cases.
The Police Review Committee first heard the results of the investigative report conducted by the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training that cited numerous instances of misleading or dishonest statements over the years by van der Kamp, who was elected sheriff last fall in a hotly contested race.
DPSST Communications Coordinator Sam Tenney told KTVZ News, "Today's vote was a recommendation to the full Board on Public Safety Standards and Training, of which the Police Policy Committee is a subcommittee. The Board will vote on whether to adopt the committee's recommendation when it next meets on July 27.
"If the Board votes to approve the recommended revocation, DPSST will send Sheriff van der Kamp a notice of intent to revoke his certifications," Tenney explained. "He would have 20 days from the date of that notice to contest the findings. If he does not, his certifications will be permanently revoked. If he does contest the findings, they will remain active, and the case will be referred to the Office of Administrative Hearings, which will assign an administrative law judge to hear the case.
"If he is decertified for lifetime, he will be unable to perform the duties of a police officer in Oregon," Tenney said. "However, DPSST does not have the authority to remove an elected official from office, or to terminate the employment of a public safety professional."
During the discussion about agreeing there were “aggravating factors” in the case, DPSST staff nenber Cindy Park noted the report listed “an overwhelming amount of inaccuracies in the statements” made by van der Kamp. Tenney explained that as part of the meeting procedure, staff members always read back aggravating and mitigating factors discussed by committee members prior to taking a vote.
Kevin Dresser said he recalls “100 percent” of his time as a reserve police officer, “so unless it was a negative thing ... Most of his (statements) were not solid ‘no’s, simply that he didn’t recall, which I have a hard time believing.”
Dresser criticized attempts “to classify that experience as just a college credit-type thing and not as a reserve program with law enforcement.” Others noted that van der Kamp had included in his background listing his unpaid time with the DCSO Search and Rescue team, but not as a police reserve in California.
Scotty Nowning said the key aggravating factor, to him, was “his continued assertion that by providing a college transcript with a class title is sufficient research. The fact that someone would leave that out, accidentally or not, on multiple occasions is just beyond logic to me.”
After a motion was made for a lifetime ineligibility for certification and before the vote, Patricia Lofgren, a public member of the committee, said based on the information before them, “This is not a person who’d make me feel safe in my community. ... I just totally agree that I would not want this person to be in this position.”
Van der Kamp, who previously told KTVZ News he'd decide whether to step down within 90 days, appeared briefly by remote camera before the meeting began but left the camera view and his attorney, Randy Harvey, was given five minutes to rebut the claims, first claiming some taking part in the meeting should rescuse themselves for having “predetermined this and having already made a decision before this meeting.”
Harvey claimed that van der Kamp didn’t consider his time as a cadet/explorer and reserve police officer with the LAPD “experience as a police officer.” And he said there was no evidence van der Kamp was ever discharged from the La Mesa, California Police Department.
The Police Policy Committee members in attendance at Thursday's meeting were:
Scotty Nowning, Chair, Non-Management Law Enforcement
Casey Codding, Vice-Chair, Oregon State Police
DaNeshia Barrett, Non-Management Law Enforcement
Angela Brandenburg, Oregon State Sheriff’s Association
Mark Daniel, Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police
Christopher Gjovik, (designee of member Chief Bob Day of Portland Police Bureau)
Kevin Dresser, Non-Management Law Enforcement
Michelle Duncan, Oregon State Sheriff’s Association
Teresa Livingston, OSP Command Staff Representative
Patricia Lofgren, Public Member
Megan Townsend, Non-Management Law Enforcement
Robert Wood, Public Member
