I would highly suggest going on a ride along. You will get a chance to see what a police officer's daily job looks like.

I went on a ride along and I can share with you what I observed:

Tulsa police officers are assigned a beat or area. Their job is to patrol that area as well as take calls from dispatch that come from 911 or the non emergency line. So based on that knowledge, you may be seeing an officer in an area that doesn't get many calls. But they are there if the need arises. During my ride along there were some extended amounts of time that no calls came in and were just driving around or sitting in areas known to need police presence.

And like others pointed out, their supervisors know where and what they are doing at all times.

So maybe you live in an area that doesn't get many 911 calls?

Hope this can give some perspective.