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 Working with your airborne law enforcement partners
A primer on police aviation Unfortunately, the police aviation crew operates in relatively anonymity and they do not often get to personally interact with their patrol officer counterparts on the ground. Many units are based at airports far from the patrol station and many police officers do not fully understand how the police aviation unit team works. Aircraft will arrive at a scene and support the ground officer with some amazing equipment and then fly off, never to be seen again until the next request. The police aviation team in the United States is almost always made up of two crew members—in other countries like England, it is always three crew members. The crew arrangements in the United States are varied, including a crew consisting of pilot and co-pilot or one comprised of pilot and tactical flight officer (hereafter abbreviated as TFO). The pilots are either sworn officers or civilians, the latter becoming increasingly more common as sworn officers with flight experience are sometimes hard to find. The New York City Police Department Aviation Unit uses the pilot/co-pilot model (both sworn), the Los Angeles Police Department uses the Pilot/Tactical Flight Officer model (both sworn) and the Maryland State Police use the civilian pilot/sworn tactical flight officers model. Pilot
In order to fly an aircraft for compensation, a pilot in the United States needs to have at least a commercial pilot certificate. Although a police pilot is not technically paid to fly, (they are being paid as a police officer that happens to fly), most aviation units require a commercial pilot’s license to be assigned to their aviation unit. A commercial pilot requires about 250 hours of flight experience and the passing of a written and flight test. In reality, this is the second written and flight test a pilot needs to pass because they have already passed their private pilot tests. In many cases, the pilot will also have their instrument rating which allows them to fly properly certificated aircraft solely by reference to the flight instruments. This rating also requires an additional written and practical test. Law enforcement agencies will often take from their own ranks, as sometimes police officers have previous military flight training or perhaps had a flying background prior to entering police work. This is normally a luxury only afforded to the larger agencies. Many smaller agencies have turned to hiring civilian pilots in order to fly their aircraft. This allows the agency to hire very experienced, sometimes retired military or law enforcement pilots in this role. For many pilots, this represents an excellent job with decent salary, benefits and a structured schedule. All are very rare commodities in the civilian flying world. In addition to the pilot licenses, all pilots must receive a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) medical in order to exercise the privileges of their pilot’s license. The medical for a commercial pilot is known as a Class 2 medical and is required annually. Although not overly detailed, there are many medical conditions that will ground a pilot. mainly the medical issues that present a high risk of sudden incapacitation and include many cardiac ailments, dizziness and conditions such as kidney stones. If the pilot is a sworn officer, they have usually 3-5 years of patrol experience—they frequently have specialized unit experience. Their assignment to aviation is predicated on a good service record, excellent evaluations and personal recommendations. Tactical Flight Officer
The tactical flight officer is always sworn. The tactical flight officer sometimes has an additional role such as paramedic for medevac flights. This is how the Maryland State Police, Nassau County (N.Y.) Police Department, and the Fairfax Virginia Police Department staff their aircraft. The TFO performs the police mission unless it is a medevac assignment. In those medevac missions, the police officer or trooper tends to the patient. In all cases, the tactical flight officer is an experienced officer drawn from the ranks to perform this very demanding assignment. Excellent patrol experience is essential and tactical experience is helpful. It is a very challenging and competitive assignment as slots are usually hard to come by. When selecting tactical flight officers, commanders seek self motivated, responsible and professional officers. Past evaluations, personal recommendations and sick records are usually considered. The Tactical Flight Officer candidate normally goes through a training program that has a dual purpose. One, some potential TFO’s find the very dynamic, fast paced cramped police cockpit, sometimes in very hot or icy cold conditions, as not what they were seeking and more often, the aviation unit realizes the TFO candidate just does not have the skills to make a competent TFO. During all missions the TFO is responsible to work with the pilot to insure a safe flight. This includes looking out for obstacles, other aircraft and any condition or danger to the aircraft. During a law enforcement mission, the TFO is responsible for all the fancy “law enforcement” equipment such as moving maps, search lights, infra red thermal imagers as well as cameras. The airborne law enforcement aircraft is often used as a command and control platform at incidents and the TFO must be part supervisor, part diplomat and part ambassador. For example, when setting up a perimeter, the TFO is sometimes able to see clearly where potential gaps exist. The challenge is to work with ground commanders and “suggest” the positioning of personnel without bruising egos! The law enforcement aircraft cockpit can be a busy place with the crew listening to perhaps four or more radio frequencies. The pilot might be talking to air traffic control, while the TFO is checking in on the patrol frequency, tactical frequency and specialized unit frequency. Of course, all four frequencies are buzzing with activity and they must be managed properly. This is in addition to searching with the spotlight and thermal imager. The Rewards
Assignment to aviation units is always competitive. The assignment is challenging and dynamic and certainly offers different challenges every day. The New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter once met a flight crew of an NYPD helicopter. After a few minutes of conversation, Mr. Jeter told the pilots that he thought they have “a cool job.” If the shortstop of the NY Yankees thinks any job is cool, it really must be something.
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