In a perfect world, and if the police themselves could arrange it, there would be enough officers to go out "on the beat", walking around in two's. But the reality is, thanks to ridiculous levels of cuts experienced by the nations police forces, there are not enough officers to be deployed in that manner.
I have been out with shifts who are expected to cover extensive areas on their beat, and may have to respond to a treble nine and travel 20+ miles to get from one side of the area to the other. To do this they must be in cars to have any chance at giving the public any chance of a reasonable response time. Do not forget either that not all police drivers can use blues and two's; I have been out on shifts where out of 3 patrol cars, 6 officers, only one driver is passed out to advanced level and can travel on blues and two's and not have to adhere to usual laws regarding speed and traffic lights etc as you and I have to.
The police are impossibly stretched, and are now trying various new forms of policing policy, like New Horizon down here in Kent to overcome the shortfalls. Thanks to government policy they are also preparing for more cuts to come, which we the public allow at our peril.
Forget the "falling crime" figures. The fact is that many crimes go unreported as the public find it difficult to obtain an initial response vie either 999 and especially 101, and many minor crimes may not even be officially logged, or at least have no action taken in regards to them. Indeed, over the last six months, there has been a tremendous spike in reported crime due to many factors.
No, if we the public want the type of police force most of us want to give us the assistance we need from them when we do, we MUST start paying for it in higher taxes. The Government, living in an ivory tower, must start to get their act together on this issue before we reach the point of no return.