On July 29, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners approved the appointment of Ty Rupert as interim sheriff. Rupert is a 20-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, which he will lead until Nov. 2026, when an election for a permanent sheriff takes place.

Rupert took over the department on Aug. 1, following the resignation of his predecessor, Kent van der Kamp, who was elected last November with 60% of the vote. But public opinion soon soured on van der Kamp as county and state oversight agencies opened investigations into claims he was deceitful about his past work history and education. Van der Kamp announced he would retire on July 31 after learning of a recall petition being launched to remove him from office. A state board recently approved banning van der Kamp from working in Oregon law enforcement for life.

OPB “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller talked to Rupert about how he plans to restore trust among county residents and staff. The following highlights from the conversation have been edited for length and clarity.

Rupert will lean on his experience and relationships to restore trust within the department:

“I’ve been here 20 years. I’ve worked in every position from a reserve deputy all the way up to a captain. So I know the inner workings of our office very well. I’ve also had very strong working relationships for years with a lot of the people that are here, and they know who I am. I’m a very genuine person. I’m a person of my word. And so I just have to be me moving forward. But it’s gonna take time. Anytime you have that broken trust, it’s going to take time to reestablish.”

Rebuilding trust within the community will require listening and direct engagement with residents:

“It’s getting out there and seeing the public. I plan on having town hall meetings, coffee with the sheriff, maybe just stopping in at businesses, being out there meeting with the citizens, asking them, ‘How are we doing? What do we do good? And what do we need to improve on?’ We have a partnership with our community. It’s important that I get their feedback and find out what they’re happy with and what we need to improve on as an agency because ultimately we work for them.”

Rupert supervised van der Kamp for nearly a dozen years. He also wrote a letter in support of him last year as a state agency was investigating van der Kamp. So why should the public believe Rupert can make a clean break from him?

“It’s sad to me because the Kent van der Kamp that I thought I knew when the news broke, I started to question, ‘Did I really know him?’ And obviously, I would have never written that letter had I known.”

The sheriff that hired me was Les Stiles, and I’ll never forget sitting in his office and he looked at me and he said, ‘If you lie, cheat or steal, you will not be a part of this organization. Am I clear?’ And I said, ‘Yes sir, you’re clear.’ And I’ve never forgotten that. As law enforcement, we have to be in a position where our public and the people around us can trust us. … And van der Kamp broke that, unfortunately. And so for me it’s a very easy clean break. I have no [tolerance] for it, and I can assure the citizens that I am not that person.”

Rupert wants to prioritize traffic safety and boosting staffing levels in the department:

“When I first started here in 2005, we had a traffic team back then. We had four cars, and they specifically focused on traffic infractions and traffic enforcement. They could do the major crash investigations and such. … I hear it from the citizens, even prior to being a sheriff, and that is something that I would like to expand. First and foremost though, I have to get our staffing levels to a reasonable standard, both for patrol and corrections. Our staff are incredible people, but we got to get them some help, so they’re not putting in so much overtime, and that’ll help their well-being also.”

Van der Kamp has not turned in his service weapon and badge despite leaving office:

“He still has his badge and after talking with not only our local district attorney’s office and also our counsel, the decision was made, given that he was in an elected position, to sign his service weapon over to him. Not an easy decision, but most importantly right now, I have to take our office in a whole new direction. And I can’t get sidelined or focused on something that involves Kent van der Kamp. So I made the decision that we’re gonna sign that weapon over to him so we can move on.”

Deschutes County Interim Sheriff Ty Rupert spoke to “Think Out Loud” host Dave Miller. Click play to listen to the full conversation:

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/08/11/think-out-loud-deschutes-county-sheriff-kent-van-der-kamp-ty-rupert/