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I mean it's well known to not turn off an old machine lest the hard-disk not spin up. Same basic idea, no?

Article is an oversimplification. There is a proper shutdown procedure which takes some time. Deviating from it requires the aircraft to be checked and possibly serviced by ground crew.

Police leave the car running for the same reason.

I thought that was to keep the electronics powered up. The 12V battery isn't enough to sustain them for too long.

A combination of both, I'd imagine.

In my experience (with cars, motorcycles and small boats), once a vehicle is started it tends to stay running.

That's my experience too. Maybe it's a chicken-or-egg problem.

The electronics and lights would certainly drain the battery, but the specific fear was that the car wouldn't start when needed. It was never specified whether that fear was of a dead battery or failed starter, but frequent starts and short trips will deplete the battery in any car...