Fighting crime is an expensive service. Burlington's police staff is the second largest of any city department. Its budget consumes about 10 percent of annual city expenditures. Police officers used to be among the more familiar local government employees in any community. Today, they are more likely to be known by badge number than by name.
Turnover is a factor.
Whether it's burnout or better opportunities that causes officers to come and go with greater frequency, the trend is a national concern. So is the nature of the relationship between the public and the police. The scale of problems prevalent today contributes to that change in perception. Speeders and underage smokers wonder why the police aren't tracking down burglars and drug vendors. Officers, in turn, hunker down after taking flak for enforcing basic laws.