It has always been that way. The bosses run it as a police station that has helicopters, instead of a flying squadron that has coppers. Some horrendous decisions have been made by these non-aviators, in particular by one who was on his last posting before retirement. All he wanted to do was keep a low profile and do nothing that would attract attention. His motto was "If somebody has short hair and shiny shoes, it doesn't matter what is in the middle." BMG.
When I was there, of the 9 pilots on staff, 8 were ex-mil. Probably because they had the requisite crew experience, low flying, hooking, hoisting and rescue skills. But with less emphasis on rescue these days, they could lower their sights a bit. But I reckon they should be pilots first and cops second. There is plenty of cop experience in the other crew members, but only one pilot on board.
Learning to be a cop is easy, learning to be a pilot is a lot harder, and getting experience takes years.