Bay Area Police Chief Facing Questions of Commuting to Work from Idaho

MILLBRAE, Calif. (KGO) -- The president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is calling for an independent investigation after a formal complaint that a police chief is allegedly living at the station during workdays -- and commuting to Idaho when he's off. That raises important issues of public safety and the proper use of tax dollars.

When fire inspectors went through the Millbrae police station this week, they found more than they expected.

You may have seen Eamonn Allen before. He was the spokesperson for the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office until Christina Corpus made him Millbrae police chief; the city contracts with the sheriff's office for law enforcement services. Then, in June of last year, property records confirm that Allen bought a house outside Boise, Idaho. The chief's very long commute raises questions.

TIMELINE: San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus investigation

I-Team reporter Dan Noyes asked Allen outside a Board of Supervisors meeting, "Are you living in Idaho? Can a chief really perform for Millbrae if he's living in Idaho"?

Despite repeated attempts...

"Are you living in Idaho?"

Allen would not answer questions about his 646-mile drive to work or the 1.35-hour flight.

Former SFPD Commander Richard Corriea told the I-Team, "Not able to return to work on short notice in the event of an emergency is ridiculous."

Correia said any police chief needs to be able to respond quickly to a high-profile crime, earthquake, or some other disaster, and that there's no substitute for hands-on and eyes-on experience seven days a week. "You'd want a police chief that's a stakeholder in the community and able to experience the community at a granular level to really understand it and know what's going on, and also to be present on short notice."

Since Allen became Millbrae police chief, photos obtained by the I-Team show the station has added two bedrooms - a single and a room with two mattresses. We asked for a tour of the public facility funded by your tax dollars.

Dan Noyes: "Eamonn, I'm allowed to see what's in here. I can't see the mattresses that you have?"
Eamonn Allen: "You can see right through the window there."
Noyes: "Can you give me a tour?"
Allen: "We're not doing tours right now, Dan, sorry."

We wanted to check out a formal complaint from the Millbrae city manager to the county attorney that says Allen uses the police station "as bedroom facilities" since he "now resides in the Boise, Idaho area." In addition, Millbrae's Code of Ethics says, "No public employee shall use ... city owned property for personal need, convenience or profit."

San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President David Canepa is calling for an independent investigation.

"If someone is living out of county or out of state, they have to pay for their own lodging, meaning San Mateo County is not a Holiday Inn," Canepa said. He has no issue supplying beds for officers who work a night shift and may have court the next day, for example, but he sees a distinction.

"We need to see was someone living in there permanently?" Canepa said. "These are taxpayer dollars and so we need to make sure that what's taking place in those facilities really is for the good of the taxpayer. That means people aren't living there."

Outside the police station, Noyes said, "This is a city-owned building. Millbrae officials tell me Eamonn Allen didn't get permission before installing those mattresses, he didn't get a permit, and that he changed the locks on the building. That way, public works and building maintenance teams can't get access and one city official tells me that's 'an extreme health safety risk'."

A fire inspector came to the police station on Tuesday of this week but couldn't access that double bedroom because it was locked with an "in use" sign. He entered the other bedroom and noted a lack of fire-resistant walls or an emergency escape, what the chief building official calls "secondary egress".

"Secondary egress means having a window," Keyvan Irannejad said. "I'm sure you have it in your bedrooms, in your home, so in the case of emergency, you can exit through that window if the door is locked or blocked."

The inspector posted this "notice of correction" on the police station entrance saying, "Please stop using rooms for sleeping" and indicating Chief Allen has to get permits, modify construction, and pass inspection if he wants sleeping quarters there. The inspector also took a picture of a shelf in the bedroom with what appears to be a half gallon of liquor.

That would be a violation of both city and county policy. The I-team also found six sergeants in the Sheriff's Office who live out of state - in Idaho, Nevada, Texas and Tennessee. Two of them work on the bomb squad where they made almost $600,000 in pay and benefits last year. They're supposed to respond to a bomb threat within one hour -- no way that's happening, if they're in Tennessee.