Over the past 10-15 years there has been an enormous increase in the number of police aviation units around the world. In the United States this growth received a major boost when the Department of Defense decided to make surplus Army helicopters available to law enforcement agencies at little or no cost. In some cases, for a token payment of $1, Police or Sheriff’s units received several Army surplus helicopters complete with spare engines and thousands of additional spare parts. Many of the units that benefited from this program 10-12 years ago are now replacing their surplus military aircraft with brand new and highly sophisticated helicopters from Bell, Eurocopter, MD, Schweizer, Enstrom, or Robinson.
Most law enforcement helicopters in the US are flown by law enforcement officers. Sometimes the unit has its genesis in the enthusiasm of a junior officer who pays for his own training and makes a case to his Chief of Police for the creation of an air support unit. Often a unit like this will start with a piston engine helicopter and a relatively unambitious plan to provide limited patrol support. In due course the many benefits of the helicopter become apparent to everyone on the force and the unit grows to be a key part of the agency’s crime suppression effort. Perhaps the best example of this is the Los Angeles Police Department which now operates approximately 20 helicopters keeping at least 2 in the air 24 hours a day.
Although it is difficult for a civilian pilot to get a job flying a police helicopter it is certainly not impossible. A minority of agencies use contract pilots, or hire civilian members of the department, to fly the helicopter. Some agencies require that you go through a police academy and spend some time doing routine police work prior to taking up your duties as a pilot. This might include spending a year in a patrol car, or even in the County jail, acquiring at least the minimum experience to have a good understanding of police work. For some this would be a daunting hurdle, but for others it might be a fascinating combination of two equally challenging careers.
Bristow Academy, Inc. is in the unusual position of providing pilots and maintenance for an airborne law enforcement unit. For the past 9 years Bristow Academy has flown patrols in Contra Costa County’s Bell 407 and Bell 206 helicopters. The pilots wear the uniform of the Sheriff’s Department, but are not sworn (certified) Deputies. Detailed information about the unit is available on this web site. Although this public/private partnership is quite unusual it has been very effective. Bristow Academy and the Sheriff’s Department have worked very well together and at no time has the operations of the unit been negatively impacted by the lack of law enforcement experience of the pilots. In a law enforcement helicopter there are essentially separate functions being carried out by the observer and pilot. Contra Costa County Sheriff Warren Rupf believes, and Bristow Academy agrees, that law enforcement helicopters should have a crew that consists of a highly experienced police officer and an equally experienced commercial pilot. There is no reason why these two individuals cannot function as a team and accomplish the unit’s mission effectively and safely.
Civilian law enforcement pilots would typically be paid somewhere between $40,000 and $60,000 per year. Rates of pay for police officer pilots vary dramatically in the United States from as low as $38,000 up to $90,000 and above. Of course police officers also enjoy a wide range of benefits such as a retirement account and health insurance. Most law enforcement flying is done at night and call outs are common. The work has the benefit of variety and unpredictability, but there are some drawbacks too. For example, most police helicopters never leave their own jurisdiction and for every exciting pursuit there may be many hours of relatively dull patrol work. If a career in law enforcement has no interest for you it is unlikely that you will enjoy airborne law enforcement. On the other hand, as a police pilot you may get to see and do exciting things that most commercial helicopter pilots will never experience.
