It is obvious that the economy has been bad for a few years now, but
my question is this: how badly does unemployment and the bad economy
affect the numbers that police department hire nowadays?

How does the current situation compare to how many people were hired
about 1 year ago? Is it better now or worse? Do you think it's only to get
better and better and departments will start hiring more? How soon do
you think will it be until counties will start getting more money so they
can hire more?

I know this is a complicated question, but maybe someone who is
currently in law enforcement has so input on this.
Thanks.

Some police departments have cut back dramatically.

There is more competition for police jobs now than there was a couple years ago because all good jobs are harder to come by today. Also, governments have less money to spend. Unfortunately, public safety department budgets get cut back too.