MILLBRAE, Calif. (KGO) — Mayor of Millbrae, Anders Fung tells the I-Team, “It’s just, you know, there’s a lot of information here that that is disturbing, right?” He’s calling for a thorough investigation into his police chief who lives in Idaho and slept in the police station during the workweek, until the ABC7 I-Team investigated.
This situation raises so many questions, and overnight we saw tense exchanges at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors over this issue. Once again, the I-Team’s Dan Noyes gave Millbrae Police Chief Eamonn Allen a chance to respond in person and he remained silent.
“Yeah, and that needs to be proven,” Mayor Fung said. “I still need to be able to get the facts of those allegations. And, you know, I have not heard from the chief, so that’s important.”
EXCLUSIVE: Millbrae police chief facing questions for allegedly commuting to work from Idaho
Millbrae Police Chief Eamonn Allen is facing questions for allegedly living at the station during workdays — and commuting to Idaho when he’s off.
But it’s been five days since Noyes’s first report and Chief Allen was sitting there during the City Council’s public comment. He left right after, and the I-Team caught up with him at the police station’s front door.
“Eamonn, have you found a place to stay besides the police station?” Dan Noyes asked. “Do you have any comments about the report?”
Beyond the issue of using taxpayer facilities for personal benefit, this raises questions about a first responder with a 646-mile drive to work or 1.35-hour flight.
Richard Corriea, former SFPD Commander said this about the situation, “Not able to return to work on short notice in the event of an emergency is ridiculous.”
The City of Millbrae contracts with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office for law enforcement services. Eamonn Allen acts as Millbrae police chief, but he’s also a sheriff’s captain. Tensions rose over this controversy at last night’s Board of Supervisor’s meeting.
Supervisor Noelia Corzo said, “I’m going to clarify something that I wish, frankly, our board president would have when he spoke to the press.”
Corzo criticized Board President David Canepa because he expressed concern about the issue in our original report, saying “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.”
Corzo said, “I want to make sure the public knows that it is actually very common practice for most law enforcement agencies, including ours, to have sleeping quarters available to their staff.”
Canepa explained he has no issue having beds available to deputies who work a night shift and must appear in court the next morning, for example. But he has questions about sheriff’s employees with homes far out of state, who stay here on the county dime during the workweek.
Canepa told Corzo, “If you don’t believe looking into something like this is in good policy, I don’t know what to tell you.”
Supervisor Ray Mueller interjected, “All right. Okay. Order! Yes. Done, guys. Point of order, please.”
Board President David Canepa: So, I think I’ve made my point very clear.”
Supervisor Ray Mueller: “You guys have both made your points.”
Canepa: “Mr. Mueller. I’m chairing the meeting respectfully.”
Mueller: “Please, chair and then chair it now.”
Canepa: “Thank you. Respectfully. Thank you.”
In the board meeting, Supervisor Corzo did not mention the most important issue of all. How can these first responders quickly get to a catastrophic event – a mass shooting or an earthquake, for example – if they are at home out of state, hundreds of miles away? Investigations are moving forward on the city and county level.
Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team.
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