It's every New Zealander's worst fear.
Being attacked by a violent offender; waking in the middle of the night to realise there's a burglar in the house; trapped upside-down in a serious car accident.
But in a life-threatening situation where every second counts, how long do you have to wait until police arrive - and what happens when they don't?
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New statistics obtained by Newshub show NZ Police have a woeful response rate - at least according to their own targets.
In the first six months of 2018, police recorded 99,168 events initially categorised as Priority One - 2 percent higher than the first half of 2017.
Police communication centre manager Superintendent Dave Trappitt told The AM Show a number of the late arrivals could be put down to traffic.
"We're all aware of the challenges in Auckland, but in other locations as well, particularly at peak drive time, traffic can be a factor," he said.
Supt Trappitt could not say how many calls were delayed, but said it was a significant problem in Auckland.
The target response time for Priority One incidents is 10 minutes. But statistics show police are only meeting this 62 percent of the time in urban areas - and just 41 percent of the time for rural events.
One-tenth of the time, it took over 47 minutes to respond in rural areas. In comparison, only 10 percent of urban responses took over 27 minutes.
This has a serious effect on people living in rural areas. Federated Farmers rural security spokesperson Miles Anderson told Newshub they deal with a "full range" of different crimes, including everything from robbery and burglary to poaching and drug crimes.
"Police don't have a timely response in rural areas," he told Newshub. "People are aware that farms are isolated and they can target them."
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Mr Anderson urges the Government to invest more in police resources in rural areas to avoid "bad outcomes".
"It's something that Federated Farmers is pushing for, and police themselves would be keen to be better resourced in rural areas," he told Newshub.
The Government has announced a massive boost in police officers, including 455 more in frontline emergency response.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said he is particularly pleased to see police numbers boosted in the regions and provinces.
"This investment in frontline policing is an investment in our provinces, our communities and our neighbourhoods," he said at the time.
Newshub.
