Why does it take so long for an Officer to show up after I call?

There are several reasons for this. First, there are often a large number of calls for service and those calls for service frequently outnumber the Officers available to handle those calls. Secondly, the Communications center works on a triage system; using answers to the questions they have asked you to prioritize calls from highest to lower priorities. For example, a fight in progress call will take priority over a barking dog or a report of a past theft.