San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office says it’s OK for employees to live out of state

While personnel investigations are “generally confidential by law” and the existence of one against Allen cannot be confirmed or denied, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Gretchen Spiker said in a statement, there is no policy or law that prohibits Sheriff’s Office employees from living out of state. 

New San Mateo County Sheriff Ken Binder — who was given the job after the unprecedented ousting of former Sheriff Christina Corpus — is planning a new officewide policy for sleeping rooms at stations, Spiker said, though she didn’t specify what that policy might be. 

“Temporary sleep rooms are an industry standard in the Bay Area and are used to ensure employee safety when working long shifts and adjusting schedules for court and other operational needs,” the statement read. “Over the next few months, Sheriff Ken Binder plans to work with stakeholders to implement an office-wide policy surrounding the use of temporary sleep rooms.” 

Millbrae outsources its police work to the Sheriff’s Office, and an inspector from the Millbrae Community Development Department left a notice Oct. 21 at the station calling for officers to stop using the rooms for sleeping. City Manager Tom Williams said he forwarded that notice to the county, but hadn’t heard from them since. 

County Attorney John Nibbelin did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the status of that complaint. 

Local leadership, like Millbrae Mayor Anders Fung and David Canepa, president of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, were outspoken in requesting an investigation into law enforcement officials like Allen residing at the station but living elsewhere following the ABC 7 report, which 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.

“People are in general in shock, upset and understandably so, and people want answers,” Fung said in October. “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.”

Now, however, Canepa had no comment on any potential updates to an investigation against Allen, and Fung said he believed the issue would be best handled by the Sheriff’s Office, which keeps personnel investigations confidential by law, Spiker said. 

Following the controversy regarding Corpus, including findings of Corpus’ inappropriate relationship with a subordinate, retaliation against employees and the unlawful arrest of the president of the deputies union, Fung also said he was hopeful the working relationship with Binder would be productive. 

“I think these are the types of things I think the Sheriff’s Office would better handle,” he said. “We obviously have a new sheriff now, and I’m hopeful he will be able to work with Millbrae to ensure services are continuously available.” 

Fung said it was integral that Millbrae residents receive timely responses and service from their police department. 

“I do believe it is important for first responders personnel such as this to be able to respond to an emergency in a short amount of time,” he said. “I think that is important. I understand there is no policy to dictate where they should be living, but it’s really the response times we should be focusing on.”