I would be the first to agree that anybody can be trained to work the cameras etc, its not hard. And as has just been mentioned most teenagers would probably be better at it than a crusty old police officer. However, at the risk of repeating myself, it is the experience that the observer brings along that counts. Lets face it, a 500 hr PPL could do a perfectly adequate job of flying the helicopter safely (ANO permitting). But an ATPL pilot with 1500hrs+ and possibly ex-mil can bring a lot more to the party, can't he?