The primary mission of the MD State Police helo guys is Medevac, they don't often do pure LE duties. I guess it makes sense for them to go to contract in that case.....
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Short video of Sheriff's helicopter
- Thread starter xnvyflyer
- Start date
The primary mission of the MD State Police helo guys is Medevac, they don't often do pure LE duties. I guess it makes sense for them to go to contract in that case.....
I know it's not your policy, but the dept's, but wouldn't you get the same thing by just sending a pilot to the academy, then giving him OJT, vice requiring him to actually work a beat? Marine pilots often end up working as FACS on the ground or in MWSS units, but they don't have to do a tour in the grunts as prerequisites. I'm just thinking that they could probably get more high-time helo pilots if they loosened the requirements.
You do make a good point. I see where you are coming from but here's the mentality of our unit which I also agree with.
You can get great pilots easy enough. There are guys getting out of the military all the time. But a high time pilot doesn't always mean a good fit for the unit. There are personalities at play in a small unit and the guy that looks good on paper, doesn't always fit in so well in a small unit. I may have been the most S**t hot pilot the military has ever seen but I may be an argumentative malcontent within the sheriff's department. Or, as has been the case in our unit not too long ago, not so great at performing the law enforcement part of the mission. Most guys can be taught to fly. Flying and doing our mission, a whole new ball game. The guys in our unit where all known as hard chargers with great reputations before getting in. That is more important to the unit than having to send them to get a commercial pilot's license.
I was beginning to question if I would ever get in. As it turned out, a more senior deputy who was my main competition had recently started in a detective position and had to work that job for at least a year. Also, a then current member of the unit decided it didn't fit her personal lifestyle (or something like that) and she left. Timing was everything as it sometimes is.
There is an experience-rich knowledge base we can draw from as well. The job is flying but it is also very law enforcement heavy, therefore our desire to have two LE trained crew members. Additionally, with the size of our department, it's probably easier for us to pick and choose unlike the smaller departments.
I remember reading in a Rotor mag a few years agog about the problem of promotion and LE helo guys. Specifically, depending on the size of the unit (and I can't remember what kind of scale they were using, ie Podunk PD vs. San Diego SD), often by the time a guy got into the air unit, he would only be there a few years before getting promoted up to a leadership position which prevented him from flying. Just wondering if you've seen similar issues, since from what I'm reading, someone in your air unit would also be valuable to move up the food chain.
I'm sure it varies a lot, but in the unit I support, most guys stay a long time. The LT in command now, was a SGT with the unit for better then five or six years. He did leave when he made LT, but came back about 3 years later to command the unit. He has been back for about two years now and will likely stay a lot longer. Come to think of it, he is the only guy I can think of that actually promoted out of the unit. Our new SGT just came in from patrol and he has never flown. He replaced a SGT that retired from the unit.
For Gatordev and Wink, most guys coming into the unit have no aspirations to immediately promote out. Most guys know that this is a dream job on the department and are willing to stick with it for at least 7+ years. You really don't get up to speed for about 3 years anyway.
Our boss was a pilot in the unit, promoted to Sgt. and left. Came back as a Sgt. in the unit. Promoted to Lt. and left. He finally came back as Lt. and is getting ready to retire. The guy who will be replacing him has never been in the unit and has no aviation unit management experience. We will need to steer him in the right direction and he better be receptive.
On a side note, we all may take the test for Sgt. next time around if our unit pay raise doesn't come through. We maintain more qualifications than any other specialized unit on the department and should be paid accordingly.
For the most part, we all want to hang around for a long time. It's a good gig and we know it.
I'm not sure if this is still the case but Miami Dade Fire Rescue trains fireman to become pilots rather then pilots to become firemen. I was talking to them on a cross country several years back and they said the same thing, that the fit with the team was more important than the size of the log book. They were actually taking guys with zero hours and training them in their hueys to do some pretty serious stuff: Night, IFR, CALS, over water SAR, etc...these guys were legit. One day they would be the Paramedic in the back the next day they were flying, sounded like an awesome life to me with the exception of the small paycheck (about half what an LT in the NAV makes). 
That's exactly the way our unit does it. When I was new in patrol, I remember going for a "fam" ride over my beat. I was amazed at how well the pilot flew. Very nice touch on the controls and of course no stabilization.
The flying is much different than what I did in the nav. I am a waaay better stick and rudder guy now. The full touchdown autorotations we do are pinpoint, not just to anywhere you feel like it on the runway. The McDonnell Douglas factory pilot comes out and we use his bird. "OK, you see the numbers 35? The crack in the runway is the front of a parking stall in front of Haji's 7-11, the only available spot if you lose your engine...simulated engine failure. I 'm thirsty. How 'bout one of those cherry slurpy things?"
Then I make the mistake of asking to see the falling leaf autorotation.
Our guys do get some really good training and do quite well for starting off with zero hours.
To expand on why I think having a law enforcement guy flying, here is another reason why.
I assisted our narcotics guys today with long lining some marijuana out of a grow in a remote area. During a few moments of down time while talking with one of the guys he noticed a car up the dirt road behind me turn around and depart quickly after seeing us. We hopped in his unmarked explorer and take off after them, him wearing fatigues with tactical gear including weapon, me with flight suit and duty belt and weapon. We catch them coming out of a private driveway looking like dear caught in the headlights. During the initial contact, the passenger appeared to be reaching beneath the seat ignoring the "get your hands up" command.
Just another reason a patrol trained deputy is better for our department.
After checking them out, and they were dirtbags, we determined it was likely they were going to look for what they determined was a marijuana grow in the area. No arrests.
Do you fly over Paradise Hills and Skyline much?
Not so much. That is a SDPD beat. If we are asked would gladly would. Just not our typical area. It's also just on the edge of Class B and our comms with tower at 800 feet are not so great (don't know why).