They are very visible, very numerous and they have a reputation for keeping a high profile.

However, my run-ins have always been painless. I've lived in Burbank 17 years and in that time I've been pulled over twice. Both times the officer was polite and I was let off with a verbal warning. Not bad, if you ask me.

When I first moved to Burbank, sometime in 89, I lived on Hollywood Way and Alameda.
My friend was dropping me off at my apt. and a man kidnapped us at gun point. It's a long story but we ended up in an accident and the Burbank PD finally came. They kept us in an interview for 5 hours and then finally told us not to worry cause the guy would probably not live through the week. ( he was from east LA) or that is where the car was stolen from that he originally got out of before taking my friends car. They never looked for the guy, they are not connected to the LA PD so no one ever did anything about it.
That was my first encounter with them.
Then, my car was broken into, they took 2 hours to come check it out, even though they were busy driving by giving out tickets on the street and I watched them. Then, they threatened to give me a ticket for sweeping the broken glass out of my car into the street.
My son was a skateboarder and was stopped and ticketed more often then not. We were in court many times. If you want to find a Burbank PD officer, go to the donut house. That is what I think of them. Everytime I have needed them, they are either not there, or they show up late.
Also, it depends on where you live. I now live in the hills so they leave us alone. No tickets, no laws, the people on the hill are exempt from most things. My own son recently was followed because his car didn't look like it belonged up here.
Just sayin'
I have no use for the Burbank PD. They wouldn't know a crime if it happened in front of them. Pretty strong I know, but I have been around her a really long time and they suck. They answer to no one but Burbank, they are not connected to the rest of the county...did I say they suck? And not very well. God help you if you are a person of color driving up this way. At NBC, our lighting director was pulled over for driving a 'nice' car and being black. They used to pull people over on the freeway as well till there was a tiff about it. They would follow people onto the NBC lot that actually worked there just for fun and give them a bad time. They are nasty little men ...oh...I have to stop there.
If I have to live here, it's best to be in a place that they don't bother much. The 'law' on the hill changes. I only live here cause it is cheep and I was blessed with a house I could afford. The only reason I moved back here.
They look for dirty or old cars. I know that cause my old neighbor worked for them.
I have no respect for them. hmmm...did that answer your question? I have been here too long. Would be happy to answer any more questions about the old Burbank...been here too long I guess....I could go on and on and on...many many times a run in that was not called for...rasist, nasty...judgemental, it goes on...wow...a subject I can answer....sorry if you had problems with them..what happened? If you don't mind my asking...I know my way around these people.

hm, maybe i've been lucky but i lived here in burbank from the time i was 3 until i left for college at 17 (from early '79 through '93). i moved back last year and not once did i ever have a negative run in with the burbank police. not when i was growing up, not now. a couple of weeks ago i called them because my neighbor who loves to park his monster truck in the alley where he occasionally blocks my parking spot, and they sent someone over within a few minutes.

*shrug* sucks that other people have bad stories, but i take it with a grain of salt because i know it's not like that everywhere in burbank and it's not everyone's experience.

This one's a bit long and kind of detailed. I feel like venting. :)

I have a love-hate relationship with the Burbank PD. I've always heard that Burbank used to be a pretty racist place back in the day, but I didn't realize from some of the replies here that they pull people over for pretty ridiculous things. I guess they assume if you don't have money, you don't belong here... the examples here are the people driving "dingy" cars, or a non-white person driving a nice car (with the implication that they probably stole it because non-white people are poor!).

I've been pulled over once at Verdugo and San Fernando for making a quick right turn on a red light (I thought it was safe) and I guess the cop was right behind me and said that I almost caused him to hit me... I really think he was speeding on purpose because I didn't see him at all before I turned. Luckily the guy was polite and let me off with a warning.

Other times, especially late at night in the hills, they will creep up on me with their headlights off, or just follow me for no reason. They even lie in wait outside drive-throughs ready to catch you as you come out. Cops already scare the hell out of me, why do they have to pester us so?

Even as a younger kid, I remember walking to school one day with a friend of mine, and we were doing the usual joking around and picking random things up from the ground to play with them. My friend picked up a small flower and turned to an apartment complex's perimeter wall, removed her shoe, and squashed the flower with it on the wall. Not a big deal. A cop happened to be passing by us and actually got out to ask us if we were writing on the wall (which it was quite clear we weren't) and where we live and where we're going... what's the point? Leave the kids alone when it's apparent that they aren't doing anything wrong. Did anyone hear about the little six-year-old who got a jaywalking ticket a few years ago? Ridiculous!

However, the love is there... only when you live in the hills. I remember coming home early one day from work when no one was home and I had tripped the house alarm. I had no idea how to turn it off since I didn't have the code, and after calling both the manufacturer of the system and the security company I still had no luck. Within about five minutes, I heard a chopper overhead and saw two squad cars screech to a halt in the middle of the street a few houses up. Two officers emerged from one car and trotted towards our house, where I opened the door and apologized to them for their trouble. They still insisted on entering and started asking pointless questions like, "Does the house always look like this?" commenting on how we still had moving boxes in the living room. The other one, which was hilarious was, "Do you have a picture of you --inside-- the house?" Uh-doy, why would a 16-year-old girl want to enter a house she has keys for? I went to a cork board and untacked a photo of my stepbrother and I in the kitchen we were standing in. The cops petted my cats for a minute and then said, "Okay, bye" and in my desperation, I asked, "Well, can't you help me turn off the alarm?" "Uh no, that's your problem." I shut the door and they left. I had to sit through an hour of the alarm screeching and eating away at my eardrums until my stepdad came home to turn it off.

When you call them, they're there. We should be thankful for that. However, I think they need to be doing more constructive things with their extra time.

Been pulled over twice, both by motor cops for traffic violations – annoying – but in all fairness, I deserved it. No warnings issued, they went straight into the "citation" mode (apparently, all their warning patience was gone... thank god for online traffic school or my insurance would be jacked).

BPD may have a checkered history on race issues but that's endemic to the system. It wasn't that long ago (40 years) that neighboring Glendale hung a banner warning blacks to be out of the city by sundown. It's wrong, it's bad... but that's history. These days, BPD itself is hiring all kinds of minorities and it makes Burbank a richer culture for it.

Now, you can take this with a grain of salt (I'm a volunteer with BFD) but with an average BPD 4 minute response time versus LAPD's 30 minute response time, it's hard to get down on the boys (and girls) in blue.