Millbrae’s police chief alleged to live in Idaho but stay in the station

Millbrae City Manager Tom Williams said he forwarded an Oct. 21 inspector’s notice from the Millbrae Community Development Department to the county that called for officers to stop using the rooms for sleeping. 

The ABC 7 report included photos of those rooms from that inspection, including a shelf in one of the rooms holding what appears to be a handle of liquor. The inspector couldn’t access one of the rooms because the lock had been changed, per ABC 7.

“Please stop using rooms for sleeping,” read the notice tacked to the door of the department. “Use of bedrooms is not allowed until a permit has been issued, construction has been modified, all inspections have passed … the existing bedrooms do not have emergency escape and rescue windows.” 

County Attorney John Nibbelin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of a formal complaint, which ABC 7 said Williams filed with the county. 

Millbrae outsources its police work to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, which has been the center of a countywide controversy as former Sheriff Christina Corpus was recently removed from her position by the county Board of Supervisors in a first-in-the-state vote. 

The vote followed findings of Corpus’s inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, retaliation against employees and the unlawful arrest of the president of the deputies union. She appointed Allen as Millbrae police chief before her firing.

A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment regarding the allegations against Allen. 

Millbrae Mayor Anders Fung said allegations of Allen’s highly alarming behavior have upset and shocked community members, and warranted an under-oath investigation. “All options are on the table” when it comes to evaluating the city’s continued relationship with the Sheriff’s Office, he said. 

“It’s one of the greatest challenges to working with the county sheriff — we have no access to their employee information, all we have is the service contract with the county,” Fung said. “We rely on the Sheriff’s Office to be the steward of all of this.” 

David Canepa, president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, is also calling for an investigation into the legality of officers like Allen residing at the police department and living elsewhere, also calling into question potential police response times if officers aren’t within an hour of the county. 

ABC 7 reported that aside from Allen, the news organization had found six other sergeants in the Sheriff’s Office who live out-of-state, including two on the bomb squad. 

Canepa also acknowledged that the allegations against Allen are building on a year’s worth of uncertainty in the institution of the Sheriff’s Office, a problem he believes can only be rectified by holding a special election for a new sheriff as quickly as possible. 

“This department needs strong leadership. I think under the previous administration, there’s been irreparable damage done,” he said. “This is a prime example why we need to have a sheriff as soon as possible.” 

The Sheriff’s Office is currently operating under the leadership of Undersheriff Dan Perea, who is discharging the duties of a sheriff. 

Should the board opt to proceed with a special election — as Canepa and others have been pushing for — it could choose to have it at the earliest in February or March 2026, which could have a price tag of approximately $3.2 million. The board could also opt to wait until June 2026 to hold an essentially free consolidated election, and could also appoint a sheriff in the meantime. 

In Millbrae, Fung said, residents want answers — and should get them through a thorough and transparent investigation. 

“People are in general in shock, upset and understandably so, and people want answers,” he said. “We need to do everything we can to make sure the public continues to have faith in our law enforcement. This is disappointing, in terms of what we found out, and the people of Millbrae deserve better.”