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The chief of State Police avia tion was booted from his post last week after out raged officials discovered that one of the elite unit’s executive-style choppers was being used for scenic joy rides around Jones Beach, The Post has learned.
The jaunts aboard a multimillion-dollar, twin-engine Bell 430 helicopter based in Newburgh were freely offered to family and friends of State Police officers, a State Police source told The Post.
“State Police personnel would call in to the aviation unit, say that they had a family member in the area and ask if they could be taken up for a ride during one of the routine traffic patrols in Jones Beach area of Nassau County,” the source said.
“They’d be picked up at a landing area and then go up and get to enjoy the view and the ride while the chopper was on patrol.”
The $6 million Bell 430 costs more than $1,000 an hour to operate.
Outrageously, some State Police officers told investigators that such joy rides were a longstanding practice and don’t interfere with official responsibilities — suggesting this type of risky violation of rules could have been going on across the state for years, the source said.
The head of the esteemed unit, Maj. Robert Kreppein, was immediately demoted, and the department’s Internal Affairs unit has now launched a widespread probe into the issue, the source said. For example, investigators are looking into whether such unauthorized trips also have been run out of the unit’s Albany site and the one in the Buffalo area, near Niagara Falls.
“The Internal Affairs investigation still needs to be completed,” the source said.
After the Jones Beach flights came to light, Kreppein — the former chief pilot for the State Police who had headed its aviation unit for the past four years — was removed from his post and “transferred to headquarters” by State Police Supt. Joseph D’Amico, the source said.
D’Amico is the former NYPD deputy chief who was brought in by Gov. Cuomo earlier this year to shake up the already-scandal-scarred agency.
D’Amico was described as shocked by the unit’s “unprofessional and unacceptable” conduct.
He noted that its actions could have led to an accident, injury to civilians and a sizeable legal liability for the state, the source said.
The joy rides also could have occurred during a police emergency, creating even more havoc in a crisis situation, the source said.
It is unclear whether Kreppein played a direct role in the practice or whether it simply occurred under his watch.
Either way, Cuomo himself was alerted to Kreppein’s removal and quickly approved, the source said.
The internal investigation could result in additional disciplinary action for those involved, the source added.
“The governor wants the message to be sent again that it’s a new day at the State Police, [where] only the highest standards of conduct will be tolerated,” an administration official said.
Lt. Glenn Miner, an official spokesman, said, “State Police equipment is for official use only, and any abuse will not be tolerated.”
The Division of State Police has been racked by scandal in recent years, including Troopergate, when then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer used investigators to gather damaging information on his leading GOP foe; an effort by then-Gov. David Paterson’s security chief to pressure a witness not to file an assault charge against a key aide; and a secret attempt to slip huge pay raises for police brass into the state’s deficit-plagued budget.