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i've spent a lot of time following/covering law enforcement aviation but this is pretty bonkers

faine this is so crazy, at the same time knowing how police flying is exempt from a lot of part 91 requirements, it would not surprise me that this type of behavior is widespread across LE agencies

i don't think most people know that for a "qualifying public aircraft operation", which includes federal, state, local, or tribal police aviation, you are exempt from many of the FAA's civil aviation regulations (even if, in practice, many of those are required via agency regs)

I have always found it weird that even military pilots do not have to have FAA licenses. That is less of a concern given the rigor of the military training pipeline. But it’s not zero concern. Military aircraft still fly in civilian airspace and interact with civilian aircraft and controllers.

like if you are a gov't operator, you technically don't have to have an FAA pilot certificate of any kind even if in practice no agency (that I know of) actually allows that