Yeah, at release cops would spawn in on top of you. One of the first patches changed that - now they spawn in far enough away that you don't see it happening. They're stronger now too. It used to be the case that an optimized character could win a stand up fight against MaxTac (the highest level cops sent after you when you max out your wanted level). Not so much anymore. You can still win a running attritional battle against them, but you can't just stand there and gun them all down before they end you.