I depend on the city and the state to plow the snow when it piles up in front of my driveway. The city repairs the streets that I drive on, and the city police drive by our neighborhood occasionally when they know some shady activities have been going on. I depend on the US customs and FBI and CIA to protect me from terrorists, and the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force to protect me from the threat of losing my way of life to a foreign invasion. It's expensive to run a city, state or country. And there will be some waste.
Police officers are terribly underpaid.
Perhaps someone higher in the ranks is overpaid, I do not know. Judges are probably underpaid as well, but I guess they are paid much more reasonably than teachers or police officers. The city paves streets that seem to be hardly ever used, while streets I drive on seem to get short shrift. The city is putting in a new rec center I voted against. The state sanctions the murder of babies, and adults who cannot afford a good attorney.