Coptergate hearings: NJ top cop on the hot seat
State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes is elaborating on his previous explanation for transporting the governor to the ball game. He says that not only do the state police's 36 pilots need to log training hours on its 10 helicopters, but while in the air the pilots do myriad other missions at the same time. Of the 35 copter rides by the governor and his staff since he came into office in January 2010, 27 of those trips were also used for at least two other State Police missions, Fuentes said.
Coptergate hearings: NJ top cop on the hot seat
Matt Katz, Inquirer Staff Writer
"We multitask."
That, according to the superintendent of the state police, is why the transport of governors via helicopter is not a waste of time or money.
I'm at a hearing right now convened by New Jersey Assembly Democrats to discuss Gov. Christie's highly controversial and highly publicized helicopter trips to two of his son's high school playoff baseball games.
State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes is elaborating on his previous explanation for transporting the governor to the ball games. He says that not only do the state police's 36 pilots need to log training hours on 10 helicopters, but while in the air the pilots do myriad other missions at the same time. Of the 35 copter rides by the governor and his staff since he came into office in January 2010, 27 of those trips were also used for at least two other State Police missions, Fuentes said.
Primarily, they're doing homeland security missions to check out major points of infrastructure like chemical plants, refineries, bridges, airports and "the densest highway system in the country, bar none."
The helicopters are also used for surveillance, to drop off officers for missions (like busting a drug ring at a high-rise in Camden) and to look for missing boaters off the Shore.
After an uproar that made national news, the gov reimbursed the state $2,150.50 for the trips to the two baseball games and had the state Republican committee pay $1,232 for a trip from the baseball game to the governor's mansion, where he had a dinner with Iowan GOP fundraisers who had come to beg him to run for president.
At the hearing, Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D., Gloucester) said Christie "probably paid more politically than the check to the state police." He said he understood the need to transport the governor via helicopter, but questioned why a flight log released last week had the names of passengers redacted. Fuentes said that many of those passengers were part of the governor's security detail, and releasing their names would undermine those officers' safety.
Republican Assemblyman Alex DeCroce (R., Morris) issued a statement before the hearing, calling Coptergate a fabricated controversy and saying: “Assembly Democrats won’t do the jobs they were elected to do – reform property taxes and public employee benefits – but howl like the dickens to try to invent issues to try to take cheap shots and embarrass the Governor."
Below, on a clip from a CNN interview airing at 9 pm tonight, Christie says - quite characteristically - that if given the choice he would do Coptergate all over again.
You couldn't pay me to get on a helicoptor with Christie.— swash1- Mr DeCroce hit nail on the head.— charladan
- And then the limo the last 300 feet
- The scum left is grasping at straws in an effort to discredit Christie. Christie is their enemy because he is trying to undo the damage they have done to New Jersey. My response is...Christie for President.— hawk
- so this guy is fake tanning now? what about every other politician who has children? do they take helicopters to their childrens games? what has christie done in office so far? republican drones = no substance, all flash— main liner
Comment removed.- Hahaha. Good attempt at damage control. NOT. And just think of the huge amounts of fuel required to hoist that fat bloated carcass all over the state. Probably single-handedly responsible for a 1 degree rise in Jersey's temperature.— CiceroSpuriousDeodatus
- Oh and you have to love the dopey "conservative" response "but but but what about the DEMOCRATS"? Hey idiots, did you forget your fatheaded saviour was supposed to be DIFFERENT?— CiceroSpuriousDeodatus
- If you are going to your son's game as a "father" not as the "governor"you absolutely have no right to use state property and employees to get you to the game. Get there the way any of us fathers would. Use your personal means of transportation not your employers. The burdens of your job is your problem, we all have them. I am quite sure, if Christie was not called on the carpet about this, he would never had reimbursed the state for the use of the helicopter. He is a sneak. If he would try to get away with this, what else will he or has he tried to get away with. Just a thought, since it is the property of the state, I was wondering if I could reserve the helicopter to go to my sons game? I would pay the costs to not fight the Schukill Expressway traffic.— lwenger63
- The unions and democrats will grasp at anything to discredit him. Who cares. This is a non-issue. What about Obama taking Air Force one all over the world along with his family. You think he drives to Camp David? Pulease!— Intelligence2008
- Because that is the president's job. He also can not drive to DC because the traffic headaches would shut down the area on the path along with being a major breach of security.
This is an issue because Christie ran on the platform that he would cut waste and spending. Instead he has hired much more staff members than what corzine had, he even pays a blogger $65k a year.
If the justification is that there needs to be a helicopter in the air at all times because they need to be training 8-5, m-f and to be breaking the helicopters in, then the air patrol division is too large and needs to be cut. They are not the coast guard, their mission is not as critical.— flavious27 - What a hypo-crite Governor Christie turned out to be!!! He layed off VERY IMPORTANT CITY OF CAMDEN EMPLOYEES SUCH AS POLICE AND FIREMEN ALL TO FUND HIS PERSONAL HELICOPTER RIDES...IMPEACH HIM NOW— cmuller2539
- What can't be justified these days in the name of "security"?— ahab
- sounds like the njea is behind all this bs.— engineer
- I agree cmuller. He's nothing but a pig. P I G.....H O G.— lvazques
Reach him at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
Follow Matt on Twitter: @mattkatz00. Reach Matt at mkatz@phillynews.com or 609-217-8355.
