It's not like that in Britain thankfully....the majority of the public support their emergency services and I'd be a liar if I said the odd public showing of said appreciation actually wasn't expected or welcomed.
Our societies demands and expectations of these services grow each year and said services are expected to perform on yearlly decreases in budget provision (politicians will no doubt have a different viewpoint) but I can remember during my final year of service having to park the patrol vehicle up for an hour each duty and do a foot patrol for an hour. Oficially to mix with the community but in truth to save a few quid on petrol and wear and tear on the vehicle. The local criminal fraternity always knew when the station was full of officers catching up on their paperwork
Of course, any emergency 'shouts' were immediately dealt with, withouht any pre-consideration of cost/expenditure.