Police Aviation News November 2010

Police Aviation News November 2010 14
NEW MEXICO: Long standing readers may recall the major row that surrounded the
landing of an Albuquerque police helicopter at a Krispy Kreme donut store in 2001 – some
may even have heard a joke tape relating to the event that can be sourced on the Internet.
In that instance the row was about a crew collecting foodstuffs for a meal as cop cars do
around the world. The argument was that cars may do so but it should not be something
you do in a helicopter.
The new event a few weeks ago was not dissimilar in that it was considered an error of
judgement by those outside the unit.
Caught on video, the Albuquerque PD Eurocopter EC120 is seen slowly flying over a junior
football game and dropping a football to launch the event. It was a great PR stunt and undoubtedly
warmed the cockles of many a heart. This incident nearly passed unnoticed, but
some days later it came to notice of the senior ranks in the PD and they viewed the video.
Subsequently the only issue raised and discussed was that the unit violated a SOP by not
forwarding the request (dropping the ball) further up their chain of command. If anything,
and as evidenced by the crowd, this was a great booster for the unit and a morale booster
for those in attendance. Nothing wrong with that. As the EC120 was already airborne there
was no fraudulent use of taxpayer money, the cost was judged to be around $80, although
no-one made mention of the potential safety issues surrounding the flight of a single engine
aircraft over a large crowd at low altitude.
The request to drop the ball originated from the Rio Rancho PD, a regular user of the services
of the Albuquerque helicopter. The unit had considered the request and agreed it at
unit supervisor level. Unfortunately the SOP required the process to go a little higher up the
pay grades and things got a little heated when those up the ladder realized they had missed
out on making a decision. Then the media got in on the act and blew he whole incident out
of proportion on its local news broadcast. [News 13/PAR]