The cops suck here like everywhere. The San Francisco Bay area has close to 6 million people though so they're usually too busy to be lurking in dark corners. Plus forget it if you really need one. A few years back I opened the door to my folks house but my Mom forgot I was coming and had chained the door. She had set the alarm and since I couldn't get in to turn it off it sent a signal directly to the police. Eventually I figured out a way to pop the chain and get it. It wasn't until an hour or so later, however, as I was leaving, that a cop finally pulled up. Shit man, that much later, what's the point?