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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:41:28 PM EDT
youtube.com/watch?v=p9aNa_gMDvQ
 Back story: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Albuquerque police have taken doughnut runs to new heights, swooping down in a police helicopter for a late-night snack. "I don't know how they decided that was a good idea," the department's spokesman, Lt. Bob Huntsman, said in a copyright story in Friday's Albuquerque Journal. The Albuquerque Police Department has two helicopters for routine night patrols, and Huntsman said it costs about $80 an hour to keep one of the Kiowa copters flying. The pilot "who is not a police officer" is under contract to the department. "We're going to look into it," Huntsman said. "If they violated policy or procedure, they're going to get disciplined for it. We've worked too hard to make this a professional unit to let lack of common sense tear us down." Rio Rancho resident Keith Turner, who works near a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop on Albuquerque's west side, said he was taking a break with other people between 12:30 and 1 a.m., Thursday, when a police helicopter swooped down, circled and landed in a nearby dirt field. "I was like, 'No, they'd better not go and get doughnuts,"' Turner said. One of those aboard got out and went inside while the helicopter idled, he said. The passenger returned to the helicopter 10 to 15 minutes later carrying a box of Krispy Kremes, he said. "I was angry, and I'm still kind of angry," Turner said. "You've got no business flying in to get doughnuts." The chopper gave what Turner presumed was a goodbye toot on its police siren as it took off, he said. Huntsman confirmed the incident, but said he had not had a chance to speak to those aboard. He said it appeared the duo were near the end of their shift and probably were flying back to the hangar on the west side. "As far as we know, they did bring doughnuts back," he said. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:43:27 PM EDT
[#1]
I should be pissed at the waste of taxpayer money... but I just can seem to stop
 ing
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:44:15 PM EDT
[#2]
Refueling stop.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:44:50 PM EDT
[#3]
Typical
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:45:15 PM EDT
[#4]
Me too. This is wrong/funny as hell.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:46:11 PM EDT
[#5]
No shit.....Points for big brass ones
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:46:18 PM EDT
[#6]
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:46:45 PM EDT
[#7]
If they were flying anyways, who gives a damn, just a little "ground time" to check on the locals.
Probably had to take a crap, not like there is a crapper in the air. [Well there is, but the "look out below" sucks. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:47:15 PM EDT
[#8]
They're not doughnuts, dammit! They're police power rings!
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:47:19 PM EDT
[#9]
it is dangerous to fly on an empty stomach.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:49:04 PM EDT
[#10]
I wonder how many non-LEO's stuff their face with donuts while working???
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:49:23 PM EDT
[#11]
BFD 15 minutes of idle time, pay 20 bucks and get on with it.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:53:11 PM EDT
[#12]
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:53:11 PM EDT
[#13]
That picture reminds me of the donut shop in our town.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:56:50 PM EDT
[#14]
I would love to see the cops fast roping down onto the Krispy Kreme.
ETA: Krispy Kreme, not Dunkin Donuts. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 2:58:09 PM EDT
[#15]
typical
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:00:30 PM EDT
[#16]
well, look at it this way.. The could see a lot more of the area from the helicopter than from a police cruiser.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:02:52 PM EDT
[#17]
Um, if they were driving a police car, would they be making the same deal out of it?
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:03:54 PM EDT
[#18]
Hey Donuts & coffee keeps our cops full of sugar to do a good job out there.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:04:50 PM EDT
[#19]
+2. This is something Chief Wiggums would do.... 
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:05:26 PM EDT
[#20]
Why? Do you think they used taxpayer money to buy the donuts? |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:05:33 PM EDT
[#21]
$80 an hour for a turbine helicopters operating costs seems a bit low...
Aviator |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:05:34 PM EDT
[#22]
No but it's just the whole stero type. I'm actually surprised it only costs $80 an hour to operate a helicopter. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:10:42 PM EDT
[#23]
$80/hr does sound cheap. A quick google search shows prices of $900+/hr for Bell 206 rentals, and a lot more if you need a pilot. If it only costs $80/hr to run, that's one hell of a profit margin
They called it a Kiowa, I wonder if it's a real military OH-58(no doubt "given" to them by the govt or bought with homeland security grants) or just a JetRanger that they wanted to make sound cooler.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:22:26 PM EDT
[#24]
Funny pic....but is that a Honeybaked Ham Cafe next door? The logo on our local HHC looks very similar in styling to that green H. If it is, kinda takes the humor out of that pic doesn't it? I am curious as to what their departmental policy is on landing to take breaks, etc. Where they stop doesn't really matter provided it isn't in violation of departmental policy. Everyone knows that Krispy Kreme donuts actually have crack mixed into the glaze anyway. Who cares who goes in there for a fix? It does perpetuate the stereotype though. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:26:54 PM EDT
[#25]
That's NED From The Bubba the Love sponge Show.
NED ROCKs!!!!! you should hear his Arab stuff as well as his ball busting of the catholic church in Boston. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:30:23 PM EDT
[#26]
I woulda pissed my pants laughing if they repelled down... |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:32:03 PM EDT
[#27]
Cops gotta eat too!
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:38:53 PM EDT
[#28]
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:39:55 PM EDT
[#29]
Yeah, if a C172 costs $80/hr, there is no way a turbine chopper can operate for that. I suspect a decinal was moved to the left one place. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:40:43 PM EDT
[#30]
Probably a 58A that the Army didn't want to upgrade.... |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:41:55 PM EDT
[#31]
I suspect the $80/hr is pure fuel burn... |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:55:08 PM EDT
[#32]
Most flying contraptions of that size burn around 11-15 gallons an hour. AvGas and Jet A is around $6... so, yes, that would be only fuel. That said... I have no problem with this - most pilots will not find this even remotely offensive. I'd rather my tax dollars go to their doughnut run than more cruisers setting up speed traps. Matt |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 3:57:08 PM EDT
[#33]
58A burns close to 20 gal an hour.
Aviator |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 4:09:02 PM EDT
[#34]
What is procedure if one of the helo crew has to use the restroom? Maybe one of them really had to go and they decided to kill two birds with one donut.
DN |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 4:10:35 PM EDT
[#35]
Reminds me of the scene in Cannonball Run where they land the plane in the street to get beer.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 4:11:00 PM EDT
[#36]
I wonder what's the legality of landing in the city like that?
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Posted: 5/15/2008 4:26:38 PM EDT
[#37]
I think Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Brian McCutcheon would have said if someone had to take a wicked shit. Why wouldn't he add this in his defense if it was true?
What a fucking waste. Unfortunately, this is just one very visible example of the incredible amount of government waste that occurs on our dime every day. 
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Posted: 5/15/2008 4:44:13 PM EDT
[#38]
Bummer of a story as it happened three years ago here.
Pilot's contract was not renewed, officer in the helicopter was transferred to traffic or some such. APD's aviation funding was curtailed to the point where the local Sheriff's Department (Bernalillo County SO) took over aviation duties in their Hughes Defender... ...until it was shot down by a disgruntled, drunk with a 30/30 lever action.
BCSO still has not replaced their Defender and APD now has a new helicopter...that has been targeted with a high intensity laser.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 5:11:35 PM EDT
[#39]
that is funny..
i dont see how it is a waste, its not like they were not out and about, so there was a 5 min detour.. they burned the same almost the same ammount of fuel stopping for donuts or not. I dont have a problem with it. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 5:26:09 PM EDT
[#40]
Thanks wiggy762:
I feel like I know the whole story
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Posted: 5/15/2008 5:26:19 PM EDT
[#41]
Including pilot, I would agree. Turbine time aint cheap. 
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Posted: 5/15/2008 5:28:22 PM EDT
[#42]
I am here to serve.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 5:33:45 PM EDT
[#43]
Aside from the cost and just plain hilarity, wouldn't that also be very dangerous?
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Posted: 5/15/2008 5:34:18 PM EDT
[#44]
That is freakin funny even if its not right.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 5:54:42 PM EDT
[#45]
That is the 1st thing I thought. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 5:59:29 PM EDT
[#46]
I would agree... The actual cost probably wasn't that much different vs the bird being in the air instead... Turbine engines have remarkably flat fuel consumption curves, IIRC (I just patch the holes... My fuel consumption-rate experience is 100% behind 4cyl Lycomings)..... |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 6:00:20 PM EDT
[#47]
We're not getting the full story.
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Posted: 5/15/2008 6:01:19 PM EDT
[#48]
$80 an hour to run?
Bullshit. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 6:01:52 PM EDT
[#49]
It doesn't. It costs much more than that, especially a turbine powered helicopter. |
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Posted: 5/15/2008 6:02:08 PM EDT
[#50]
The place next door is a Chinese restaurant, Hong Kong Express. I'm the one that took the picture and it was about 9:00 or so in the morning. When I saw those cars and that bike sitting there, I couldn't resist. 
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