I pay the NYPD to be my firearm. I've always lived close to a precinct or near the donut/newspaper stores they frequent. They had better come protect me if I need help. It is a service I pay for with taxes.
Constitutionally, the police have no duty to protect you. Their job is to create an environment conducive to keeping the money rolling in for the government. Personally, I find it to be a lack of individual responsibility to expect somebody else to keep me safe, but to each their own.
"WASHINGTON, June 27 - The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the police did not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm, even a woman who had obtained a court-issued protective order against a violent husband making an arrest mandatory for a violation."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/28/politics/28scotus.html?_r=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Rock_v._Gonzales
"By a 4–3 decision the court decided that Warren was not entitled to remedy at the bar despite the demonstrable abuse and ineptitude on the part of the police because no special relationship existed. The court stated that official police personnel and the government employing them owe no duty to victims of criminal acts and thus are not liable for a failure to provide adequate police protection unless a special relationship exists. The case was dismissed by the trial court for failure to state a claim and the case never went to trial."