Kansas City officer found guilty in fatal shooting is suspended ‘pending termination’
Kansas City police detective Eric DeValkenaere is facing termination from the department following a guilty verdict issued Friday in the fatal police shooting of Cameron Lamb.
Donna Drake, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department, said DeValkenaere has been “suspended without pay pending termination” following the verdict. She confirmed that the department’s Notable Event Review Panel will examine the incident.
That panel, which is composed of several high-ranking police officials and supervisors, analyzes officer-involved incidents and makes tactical, training, and administrative recommendations to the police chief based on its findings.
DeValkenaere, 43, was found guilty of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action by Jackson County Judge J. Dale Young during a hearing Friday. The verdict followed a highly publicized trial where prosecutors accused DeValkenaere of recklessly entering Lamb’s property in December 2019 without a warrant and fatally shooting him within seconds of arrival.
DeValkenaere was indicted by a Jackson County grand jury in June of 2020 amid a summer of unrest in Kansas City and around the country in response to police shootings and in-custody deaths of mostly Black men. The detective was initially suspended as a response to the criminal charges, but was back on the job with pay seven months later.
At the time of the shooting, DeValkenaere was assigned to the Investigative Bureau. When he returned to work, he was administratively assigned to the Executive Services Bureau, which handles police budgeting, facilities, purchasing and building operations matters. He has remained in that role since.
Being convicted of a felony is a nonstarter for many law enforcement careers. State and federal laws prohibit people from possessing a firearm, usually a requirement of the job. Missouri law also sets certain standards for police officers to remain licensed by the Department of Public Safety, and officers face revocation of their state-issued licenses if they are even suspected of a crime in certain cases.
But examples of administrative punishment for police officers convicted of crimes are few and far between in the U.S.
Law enforcement experts told The Star on Friday that DeValkenaere’s conviction marks a rare event for which there is little precedent.
Lauren Bonds with the National Police Accountability Project, a nonprofit that promotes law enforcement accountability, said police officer convictions are so uncommon that she couldn’t say with much certainty what repercussions someone in DeValkenaere’s position might face from his own department.
“The fact that there was not just a prosecution but a conviction — there’s a very small sample size for that,” Bonds said. “But I don’t think there’s a more clear indication that someone’s not fit to serve than them being convicted of a felony crime.”
Seth Stoughton, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who is also a former police officer, said he is “not aware of any officer returning to a career in policing after a serious criminal conviction.”
Friday’s verdict followed a weeklong trial during which prosecutors accused DeValkenaere of reckless and unwarranted actions that led to Lamb’s death.
Lamb, 26, was shot and killed by DeValkenaere on Dec. 3, 2019 as Lamb was inside his pickup truck in his own driveway. Prosecutors said there was no evidence that anyone had dialed 911, that anyone was hurt or that a crime had taken place when DeValkenaere and another detective arrived at Lamb’s home at 4154 College Ave.
During the trial, prosecutors also alleged the crime scene was staged and evidence was planted, saying Lamb was unarmed and the gun that police said he had with him was actually inside of a staircase near the garage.
Speaking to his own defense, DeValkenaere testified at trial that moments before the shooting, he saw Lamb reach with his left hand for a handgun from his waistband and point towards his partner Troy Schwalm.
DeValkenaere said he had a duty to protect Schwalm. He also denied planting evidence, having any other officer alter evidence or change their report of the shooting.
The Star’s Glenn E. Rice contributed to this report.
