chopperdr,
There is one school of thought on that point you make. That is, that the reason the USBP bought the 600 in the first place was that the powers that be wanted to eliminate " in the dirt" operations.
They did'nt count on the 600 working so good down in the dirt.
Once again, the USBP pilots I have talked to say thats where they need to be to do there job effectively. They see the AS350 purchase as another attempt to keep them at 500ft, and it will probably work. They are two different aircraft, each suited for a different type of law enforcement mission.