If you browse through the Rotorheads forum one thing will become completely clear: people fly helicopters for a living for one reason only - they love flying helicopters. To paraphrase someone-or-other, for those who feel that way no explanation is needed; for those who don't no explanation will ever be enough. But to get to the point, most helicopter jobs are not that well paid and work is not that reliable. If what you want is a secure(ish) job that's well paid, then fly for the airlines. If you want to fly helicopters, then do that. You CAN do SAR and police work from a non-military background, but you'll need a lot of hours, and with the North Sea companies not taking on people unless they pay for their own instrument ratings, that means a lot of dosh. OHOH, f/w training is hardly cheap, so you might as well do what you want to do. In fact, it's all so expensive and insecure anyway, that's there's no point in doing any of it unless you absolutely HAVE to fly!
And I'm not saying that to put you off, honest!