Charles,
The other evening I attended the Eastern Region Helicopter Council meeting. The members are helicopter pilots from all over the eastern Mid coastal area of the USA. NY, NJ, CT, PA. While there I talked with several pilots for NY State Police, NYPD and NJ State police. First of all, none of these departments and no other that I have heard of uses private pilots. They are have Commercial or better. The requirements are strict. In many cases there is a waiting list. The officer must get his/her private on their own. Most get it in a fixed wing aircraft. When accepted into the program they fly as an observer and receive helicopter training. During this time period they are evaluated. Usually by several different training pilots. If they are deemed acceptable, they are then trained to commercial standards and certificated. After they have their commercial certificate they continue to fly with an instructor pilot and they swap 'legs' until the department is ready to turn them loose with an observer, usually an experienced observer.
For SWAT, rescue or similar assignments, they departments generally require certain levels of experience and ratings. Law enforcement aviation is a tough job, with little respect from anyone, they are proud of the job they do and work very hard to keep it as safe as possible. In fact, they formed an association to help in that. Considering that they fly a lot a night and over congested areas, their safety record is very good.
As for kicking the FAA around, I can do that, I pay part of their salaries. You don't see me kicking Britch CAA around, even though I believe that flying a 747 on a revenue trip from LAX to London with an engine out is not a smart or safe thing to do.