Taxpayers fund cops’ flying lessons for years

Montgomery County police department employees have been using a taxpayer-funded tuition assistance program to take flight lessons for at least the last three years — long before the police department had anything to fly, county records show.

The county has paid more than $21,000 to Advanced Helicopter Concepts in Frederick, Md., for “basic tactical flight training” and other courses. The county paid up to $1,947 per course, records show, though the tuition assistance program is currently capped at $1,730 a year per employee. The head of the tuition assistance program did not respond to requests for comment.