Becoming a Member 

To be considered for membership in the Air Patrol, you must be a United States Citizen, reside in the vicinity of Marin County, be at least 21 years of age, and have a valid pilot certificate with at least 150 hours as Pilot in Command.

Members are expected to attend meetings, trainings, and other functions of the Air Patrol. Members are expected to be available to participate in Sheriff’s Office missions which may occur at any hour on any day. Members may be asked to fly as Pilot, Tactical Flight Officer or Observer to support the mission. Pilot in Command is required to have 250 hours PIC in the same category and class aircraft.

If you are interested in exploring membership, please email the Air Patrol Captain at: johngarcia@mcsair.org

All applicants must be of sound character, show good judgment in their personal conduct, and conform to the Marin County Sheriff’s Department Pre-Employment Drug Use Guidelines. Applicants should submit a Membership petition to the Air Patrol Captain. If the application meets Air Patrol requirements the captain will forward the application to the Membership Committee for an interview. Following a positive recommendation by the Membership Committee the application will be referred to the Sheriff’s office for a background check. The background process consists of a Confidential Background Investigation including a FAA & DMV check, a Criminal History review, Live Scan Fingerprinting and a Computer Voice Stress Analysis Test. There is no cost to the applicant for the background investigation.

After passing the background process, candidate(s) will be invited to attend Air Patrol events (meetings, trainings, fly-ins, and other events.) Each candidate for membership shall attend a minimum of ten (10) events prior to consideration for Active Membership. This will include a written and performance check ride with the chief pilot of his/her designee.

Current members will then vote on the candidate’s membership during a General Meeting and the applicant will be sworn in as a member.

The Marin County Sheriff’s Air Patrol is both a 501 (c)(3) corporation and an Operations Unit of the Sheriff’s Office. As a volunteer program, new members will need to provide themselves with a uniform and flight suit – an initial expense of several hundred dollars.

 

2024-2-19