ALBANY — State troopers in one upstate unit gave out so many parking passes to family and friends that the supply ran out when a high-ranking officer needed one for official business, according to an e-mail obtained by The Post.
The e-mail exchange between two members of the State Police Aviation squad in Albany points to widespread misuse of the passes within the unit.
The passes allow free parking at Albany International Airport, where seven days of long-term parking costs $45.
One trooper said the passes were being so widely distributed among civilians that a police colonel flying on state business couldn’t get one.
A State Police spokesman insisted the passes were reserved for “official police business” and no one was misusing them.
Each pass has to be signed out by a trooper.
“We do not know or have any information of sharing to friends and family,” said police spokesman Darcy Wells.
But one trooper in the e-mail said the situation had to be corrected quickly, before the situation leaked to the press.
“Last thing we need . . . is to have a little story done on how State Police employees (and/or their relatives) park for free on personal vacations,” the trooper warned.