Originally Posted by
normajean21
anybody familiar with the requirements of a helicopter pilot on a police force
Usually you need to serve as a regular cop for at least 3 years first...they usually want the pilots to know what it's like in the ground.
But that's just the minimum...usually flight departments are small and jobs are filled via the good-old-boy network. I'd expect to spend 5-20 years on the ground trying to get into flight. You may also need to pay for helicopter training first. Often a PPL will be enough, and then they train you to commercial standards. The good news is that the flight hour requirements are usually low.
The few departments which might hire pilots off the street are probably going to take military helo pilots...there are a lot of those guys out there.
If you have some significant time, look into customs/border protection...they hire experienced pilots without any LE background. A couple years at a regional should meet their mins. You can eventually fly BOTH fixed-wing jets and blackhawk helos. Fun-factor is off the scale.