Last year’s election for Deschutes County Sheriff was plagued with controversy from inside and outside the agency. Not for the first time, the public heard stories of political retaliation, quid pro quo promotions and internal investigations launched against anyone who leaked information to the media.

Kent van der Kamp’s campaign promised a new era of transparency and change for the sheriff’s office, but already since he took office on Jan. 1, investigations into the new sheriff’s history of dishonesty have compelled the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office to bar van der Kamp from all court testimony. This is otherwise known as being placed on the Brady list.

But underneath this rocky start, van der Kamp appears to have followed through on at least one campaign promise, insiders say: to dismantle a toxic work culture inside the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office. Whether those changes can withstand the consequences of van der Kamp’s dishonesty — and a potential resignation — only time will tell.

“The last four months have been absolutely great, and I feel like our office is on such a great upward trajectory,” said Sgt. Thomas Lilienthal. “That can be true, and at the same time, it can be also true that these revelations that we are learning from the news, not from our administration, are so troubling that we are unsure what the future is and it’s making it hard for us to do our jobs… this overshadows all the good work that we have done for the last four months.”

New leadership

Sheriff’s office employees interviewed by The Bulletin after van der Kamp’s first 100 days in office spoke about what it was like to work under former Sheriff Shane Nelson and those he promoted to the upper ranks. Several officers described a culture of anxiety and fear, where promotions were political and small issues were allowed to metastasize into crises. As more information about the culture inside the sheriff’s office came out, employee wellness and work culture moved to the forefront of van der Kamp’s campaign.

“The culture was such that even something that was intended to be improving wellness, people were afraid that it would be used as a weapon,” said Danny Graham, president of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Employee Association. “People were on eggshells, afraid to show any favor to one candidate or the other, whether it was directly or indirectly.”

After van der Kamp was elected with 60% of the vote over opponent Capt. William Bailey, officers told The Bulletin, tensions dissolved almost overnight. On Jan. 1, van der Kamp took office after Nelson elected to retire just days before van der Kamp’s official inauguration.

“It was like a light switch coming on,” said Lt. Jay Minton. “We have been in the dark for so long we didn’t even know what the light was. It was so refreshing that, once (van der Kamp’s) election was announced that night, … there were people crying because they knew we were going to recover.”

One of the first actions van der Kamp took when he assumed office was to implement transparency policies, van der Kamp said. When Nelson was sheriff, the command staff’s office hallway door remained locked at all times; now, that door is open and deputies are encouraged to drop in on commanding officers, including van der Kamp. 

“Every other week, he sends out an email on what’s going on in the sheriff’s office. That’s extremely, extremely helpful because we get asked from our citizens all the time, what is your sheriff doing? And he lays it out … he updates us on the budget, he updates us on what the other divisions are doing,” said Detective Kevin Riding.

The way promotions are being handled is also different. Several officers who spoke with The Bulletin said they feel there is now a real opportunity for career advancement and special assignments, and that those promotions will be determined based on merit rather than politics. 

More support for those officers who advance upwards is also coming as van der Kamp pushes to hire more officers, which he said the agency does have the budget for now that he has identified areas to cut down on expenditures from the previous administration — such as a $40,000 expenditure on golf carts — that led to public scrutiny at the end of Nelson’s term. 

The Bulletin was unable to reach Nelson for comment.

From sighs of relief to disappointment

Van der Kamp’s improved transparency and direction have been popular among staff, but his recent placement on the Brady list by District Attorney Steve Gunnels and subsequent investigations about him lying about his educational background has some people wondering if the excitement was just the honeymoon phase of having new leadership.

The Department of Public Safety Standards and Training has also tentatively found that van der Kamp violated the state agency’s moral fitness standards when he lied about his past with the La Mesa Police Department, according to a draft report obtained by The Bulletin. A hearing is scheduled on May 22, during which the state agency will determine whether or not to revoke van der Kamp’s law enforcement credentials.

After van der Kamp sent out an email notifying his employees that The Bulletin was writing an article about how the culture has changed since he took office, two established anonymous sources reached out to The Bulletin warning that sources had been individually selected by van der Kamp in order to gain positive momentum ahead of Gunnels’ decision to place van der Kamp on the Brady list. 

The Bulletin shifted the trajectory of its investigation after the report was released, but few people inside the office were willing to openly criticise van der Kamp to the media. Lilienthal, who supported Bailey during the election, said people are reluctant to speak out against van der Kamp not just because of the entrenched toxicity, but also because things have been going so well inside the office.

“Everything has been on such a good trajectory, that I believe people are also feeling like, ‘what’s next, what happens now?’ You don’t get on this list. This list is a career ender for any one of us and I know that I would not be afforded the opportunity to decide my fate if my name ended up on this list,” Lilienthal said. “I have heard from patrol that it has already affected their contacts with the public where somebody doesn’t like what we have to say or what we’re doing, and the conversation immediately flips to, ‘well, you guys are just liars.”

This development comes amidst a second ongoing investigation conducted by the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training that aims to determine if van der Kamp violated the state agency’s moral fitness standards by lying about his past experience with the La Mesa Police Department. If van der Kamp is found in violation, his law enforcement credentials could be revoked.

The sheriff has since said he does not plan to make a decision on whether or not to resign until June.

“There’s more work to be done, and I understand the dilemma and the heartburn. I’m not here to put any bad light on the office, but I need to make sure that I’m in a place where I feel comfortable transitioning out of the office, should that be the decision I make,” van der Kamp said.