LAW ENFORCEMENT For contributions to the promotion and advancement of helicopters in support of law enforcement activities
John Cooper Safety and Training Officer, Columbus Division of Police, Helicopter Unit, Columbus, Ohio, USA
While John Cooper earned his private pilot single-engine land rating in his teens, it was helicopters that truly captured his imagination. Using money from his full-time paper route and a second job helping scrap Army surplus helicopters for a helicopter
operator in Maryland, Cooper earned his private helicopter add-on certificate in an Enstrom in the late 1970s. His training then came to a halt as he sought the funds and a path to a helicopter pilot career. Cooper’s big break came in 1988 when he was hired by the Columbus (Ohio) Division of Police—the division’s robust
helicopter aviation unit trained officers to fly. Cooper served as a street officer until he was accepted into the aviation unit in 1991. Tere, he earned his commercial helicopter certificate and flew as a helicopter tactical pilot. A few years later, he earned his certificated flight instructor rating. In 1996, he became the unit’s safety and training officer. Today, at 57, Cooper is the Columbus Police Division’s longest-serving pilot in
the aviation unit and its longest-serving safety and training officer. He has 5,900 hours in helicopters, with 3,500 hours in instruction, and is an FAA helicopter designated pilot examiner. During his 30-year career with the unit, Cooper has also built and strengthened the unit’s safety programs. In his position as safety and training officer, Cooper has two main
responsibilities. Te first is maintaining and overseeing safety standards for the department’s heliport. Te second is overseeing all pilot training for the unit. In 1999, Cooper helped the Columbus Police Division become the first police
John Cooper
department in the United States to achieve Public Safety Aviation Accreditation Commission (PSAAC) accreditation. He also led the effort to achieve reaccreditation of the unit in 2012. Columbus Police awarded him its Medal of Merit for both efforts. Te Columbus Police Division employs 21 pilots who fly the unit’s five aircraft, one Bell 407GXi and four MD 530F helicopters. Cooper provides primary,
recurrent, and transition training, ensuring that every pilot meets rigorous FAA and departmental standards, including two checkrides a year. New recruits to the Columbus Police aviation unit come with everything from no flight experience to full certificates.
Cooper helps each of the officers gain the experience needed to obtain pilot-in-command status on the aircraft, placing particular emphasis on safety. “I’m big on safety,” he says. “I put a lot of emphasis on emergency procedures, too. We’ve had four engine failures, and the
pilots put the aircraft down safely in some very confined areas. I’ve had pilots come to me afterward and thank me for the training. Tat’s emphasized for me how important emergency procedures are.” To increase safety, Cooper established an integrated training system for the department, something for which he again
received the department’s Medal of Merit. He applied for a grant and added a helicopter aviation training device to his training equipment to conduct training for inadvertent entry into instrument meteorological conditions (IIMC). He also developed aeronautical decision-making models based on realistic scenarios and put all pilots through that training. To enhance realism, Cooper invites local air traffic controllers to participate in instrument and IIMC training. “I love training,” he says. “I love getting into people’s minds and bringing that
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understanding. I like taking something complex, breaking it down, and making it easily digestible. Tat’s what any instructor should be doing.”
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