Sworn Path to Police Helicopter Pilot- Part III

Part III is going to be my catch all article for now. Any other hints, tips, or thoughts I can come up with on this subject will be added to this article.

Fitness:

One subject that I have not addressed yet in the series of articles is physical fitness. As law enforcement officers we know that ideally we should strive to maintain that level of fitness we had upon academy graduation, right? Sure some of us go on to become marathon runners and compete in triathalons, (I'm not one of them) but for many of us the years and pounds canadd up.

This point is pretty straight forward. If you want to become a member of your department's aviation unit, you need to get slimmed down, and in excellent shape for a number of reasons.

First let's look at pure perception. Let's say you have two candidates interviewing for an opening in the air unit. Both have virtually identical experience, both do excellent on the interview, both are well liked and come with excellent references, but one is 70 lbs heavier than the other. Do you want to guess which one gets the position?

Whether it is fair or not, the more fit candidate is very likely going to be percieved as the better, more prepared, and more qualified candidate (again all other things being equal.) One could probably argue that you are not serious about securing a position in the air unit, if you have not bothered to get yourself into shape physically.

Other specialized unit's such as the SWAT team have no qualms telling a person they need to be in excellent physical condition before applying.

The bottom line is that if I am trying to make a positive impression on the interview board, the Air Unit Commander, etc., I don't want to show up 50 or 70 lbs overweight. I want to show that I have a certain amount of self discipline, motivation, and a desire to be in at least good physical condition.

Remember also, many agencies are flying helicopters that are already loaded down with a significant amount of extra equipment and weight. Even most small turbine powered helicopters do not have unlimited power. Depending on the specific aircraft, temperature, altitude, etc., 50 lbs could be the deciding factor on whether or not you have enough power to complete the mission.

In our unit, you could at any time find yourself on a hiking trail, in 110 degree weather, carrying a litter with an overweight, overheated, hiker who has succumbed to the weather. It's best to not become a victim yourself in these situations.

The positive side of all this is that now time is on your side. We know that for many of you securing a position in the air unit is going to be a long term goal. We already know that for most agencies you are going to need somewhere between 5 and 10 years to be competitive, so you have no excuse to not be in excellent physical shape when your interview comes around!

RESEARCHING POLICE HELICOPTER UNITS:

Let's say you want to do a little research on which police, sheriff, state or federal agencies have their own aviation unit,. Is there a master list somewhere? There is not really a public list that I know of, but there is something that comes close.

The Airborne Law Enforcement Association http://www.alea.org/PhotoGallery/default.asp has a public section on their website which includes an extensive photo gallery, by agency, listed in alphabetical order. The majority of police aviation units do not have a dedicated website, but most have submitted photos to ALEA of their aircraft. It is one of the largest photo galleries of police helicopters on the internet.

Nothing wrong with using this list as a research tool to discover which agencies have there own air unit.  It is not all inclusive however, I do not there are some agencies with an air unit who do not have photos posted there.  Good luck with your research.