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A Northern California police chief According to a report, he has been accused of traveling to work from Idaho and allegedly sleeping at the police station overnight.
Eamonn Allen, the police chief in Millbrae, about 15 miles south of San Francisco, is reportedly living at the station during the week and returning to Boise, more than 650 miles away, when he’s not working. KGO reportedCiting a complaint from Idaho and property records.
The TV station obtained photographs, apparently from a fire inspector, of two recently constructed bedrooms furnished with mattresses and other furniture inside the police station.
One image shows a half-empty gallon bottle of wine sitting on a shelf in the alleged bedroom.
According to the report, in order to legally have living quarters inside the station, the police department would need to obtain certain permits to modify the construction of the rooms, which Allen did not receive permission to do.
Fire inspectors were reportedly unable to even access one of the living quarters because it was locked with an “in use” sign outside the door, the outlet reports.
San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Canepa is calling for an independent investigation.
“If someone is staying out of the county or out of state, they have to pay for their own lodging, which means San Mateo County is not a Holiday Inn,” he said.
“We need to see if anyone is living there permanently?” Canepa said. “These are taxpayers’ dollars and so we need to make sure that what’s happening in those facilities is actually for the good of the taxpayers. That means people are not living there.”
Allen ignored questions from a KGO reporter who approached him outside the Board of Supervisors meeting to ask him if he was living in Idaho.
The TV station’s investigation also revealed that six San Mateo County Sheriff’s sergeants live outside California, in states including Idaho, Nevada, Texas and Tennessee.
Two of those sergeants work on the bomb squad, a division that is supposed to be able to respond to a threat within an hour. Last year he earned about $600,000 in salary and benefits.
Independent The county sheriff’s office, which is contracted by Millbrae for police services, has been contacted for comment.
Canepa said he plans to send a letter to Undersheriff Dan Perea on Monday, asking him to investigate Allen and the police department’s questionable living arrangements. According to The Mercury News.
Millbrae Mayor Anders Fung told the outlet that the report is “appalling” and called the photos of the temporary living arrangements “extremely concerning.”
“Obviously our chief needs to be extremely sensitive to any emergency or situation,” Fung said. “What is of more concern to me at the moment is our police station being used as living quarters and where the funding is coming from.”
The mayor said he planned to discuss the allegations with the city council and supervisors, saying, “The people of Millbrae have always had high expectations of our police chief, and this is disappointing. We need to find a way to ensure that our people continue to have high expectations for our chief and the Millbrae Police Bureau and police services in general.”