REDDING, Calif. — In spite of recent calls for defunding police departments across the country which have led the headlines for months, nationwide polls show that most Americans overwhelmingly agree that patrol officers are invaluable and an absolute necessity to ensure the safety and security of the residents they serve.

However, with a seemingly never-ending stream of 911 calls, today’s patrol officers are stretched to the breaking point. Officers in many cities describe their shifts as being spent racing from call to call, leaving them little time to deal with or address their area’s ongoing, long-term problems – many of which are at the very root of the volume of calls [...]