Public services (including law enforcement) are starved for resources by conservative (small government) politicians who can then say "see, government doesn't work, why should they get all this money" and proceed to reduce funding further.

This leads to the populace accepting that "government doesn't work" and that "taxes are too high."

This cycle has been going on for about 40 years now.

It appears it may be ending with the rise of "leftist" politicians like Bernie Sanders gaining some traction.

It also leads to terrible things like civil asset forfeiture which literally turns police officers into highway bandits. (But it's ok, they only steal from the bad guys).

For instance, the telecom companies and the call center companies both have powerful lobbies. They are in favor of the end customers bearing the burden of unwanted calls rather than cutting their revenues.