PANEWS, you know that for FACT, or just what you would like to think? I am curious about the "prohibition" period. Never heard of that one. The USBP did select the MD600, that is why they were ordered and paid for. It was not a suitable replacement for the OH-6, but it was not marketed nor sold as a replacement, it was to suppliment in a different mission. Unfortunatly, the one that is in the air, or out of the hangar is the one that is used. What happens then is trying to compare apples to oranges, and the guys who liked apples didn't like what they had- they were also very vocal. The guys who liked oranges just kept doing their jobs.
USBP did not have good luck with the AS350 from the early 90s, well before delivery of the first MD600. I remember one rolling down a mountain in Arizona that was trying to do a job that an OH-6 would do just fine.
I also believe they have suffered fatal accident(s) in their AS350 fleet, but not in the MD600 fleet.