Okay, some of the comments here really take this to an extreme. Lets take a look at the industry as a whole and you may find that commercial pilots not associated with the very few "bad" law enforcement pilots are just as "bad", if not worse. Remember, a cop usually can deal with more stress then your average joe. And look around you, bet you can identify a pilot who should not be in an aircraft
There is very very few agencies, if any, that do not require at least a commercial license. There is none that I am aware of that do not fly in compliance with the FAR's. Does that mean that all those young flight instructors with less then 300 hours that taught the industry should be grounded.
Of course the FAA has more lax rules, and I keep seeing everyone else saying the JAA should adopt some of them. Is there, on a flight hours basis more accidents in the U.S.? And of course, even though some do operate under the "public use" rules, most, 99% of them are keep in the exact shape or better as one not operating under those rules. My department operates an H-3 under the "public use" rules and I dare anyone to compare it to any other aircraft.
People make due with what they have, but this is a industry wide issue, not just law enforcement. Do not get caught up in the usual newspaper glorification so they sell more papers. Just look at the trade magazines, you will see they have addressed this issue as well.
And I will not get into the cop/pilot issue, as that would take several pages alone.
Why does the whole world (England, Isreal, Australia, Germany, Japan, the Air Force's, Navy's of those country's...etc) come to us to learn what we do? Some cops/pilots must be doing something right.
Rant off......