California police chief probed for sleeping at station while living 600 miles away

A Bay Area police chief set up a bed in his local station where he reportedly slept during the week before returning to his home more than 600 miles away in Idaho on the weekends — prompting calls for his removal.

Eamonn Allen, chief of police in Millbrae, about 15 miles south of San Francisco, is the subject of a formal complaint filed by the city manager to the county attorney.

The complaint was triggered by a bombshell KGO-TV report that included photographs of two bedrooms that had been added to the Millbrae police station since Allen became chief of police sometime before summer of 2024.

An examination of property records found that Allen bought a home just outside Boise, Idaho in June of last year, according to the local outlet.

When asked whether he was living in Idaho, Allen declined to respond to KGO-TV.

The formal complaint filed against Allen states that the police chief used the police station “as bedroom facilities” since he “now resides in the Boise, Idaho area.”

According to Millbrae’s Code of Ethics, “[n]o public employee shall use…city owned property for personal need, convenience or profit.”

“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,” San Mateo County Board of Supervisors President David Canepa told local ABC affiliate.

“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.”

Police officers who work a night shift and need to appear in court the next day are given beds, but those are exceptions to the rule, according to Canepa.

Law enforcement experts also said that the fact that Allen lives so far away is problematic, given that police heads need to be able to respond at a moment’s notice in case of an emergency.

Richard Corriea, a former commander in the San Francisco Police Department, told KGO-TV that “not [to be] able to return to work on short notice in the event of an emergency is ridiculous.”

A chief of police must be available to respond immediately in case of a high-profile crime, earthquake or some other disaster.

“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,” Corriea said.

The KGO-TV investigation also discovered that at least six sergeants in the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office lived out of state — in Idaho, Nevada, Texas and Tennessee.

Two of those sergeants work on the bomb squad, where deputies are paid nearly $600,000 a year, including benefits.

The Post has sought comment from the Millbrae Police Department and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.