What's my agenda?
I've been dealing with people who are obviously passionate and worried about this, and I need to understand what they tell me more clearly, and to assess whether I'm getting a one-sided or skewed view from people who may have their own agenda. I have a sincere desire to educate myself, and there's nothing better than PPRuNe for getting the operator's perspective, and the perspective of the wider rotorcraft community.
And the whole way in which Government aviation is organised in the USA is very foreign to a Brit - the plethora of Government Departments and the bewildering array of Federal/State/County/City agencies (which differ from state to state) all make it very hard to follow.
Talking to State Troopers at Heli Expo it became clear that one state might have all Law Enforcement air organised at state level, while its neighbour might have a State Police air unit, augmented by county or city units, or both, or just 'local level' units. I didn't feel too bad about not knowing how it was organised, as the guys I was speaking to only knew how it was done in their state!
But I'd like to feel less woefully ignorant.
Over here, it's pretty simple - law enforcement agencies fly civilian aircraft, with the CAA certificating aircraft, maintenance and crewing, and the pilots (many of whom are ex-Mil) are all properly licenced CPLs or ATPLs.
The idea of plucking a Police Sergeant from the force and training him to fly on the air unit would not 'fly' here, and is therefore alien and interesting.