Cops respond to a wide variety of calls all the time because over time (particularly between the 1960s to 1990s with concerns driven by crime statistics, though the trend has continued even as the original impetus reversed) resources were pumped into police departments, often diverted from other local services organizations.
When all you have is a paramilitary force trained for the application of force, every local problem looks like a target for the application of paramilitary violence.