Where is Dixon of Dock Green when he is most needed?

The other night I popped out for some bread buns and milk, and as I neared the end of the road I could see and hear a group of youths being a bit loud. Outside the police station, I noted two policemen sat in their police car. As I came out of the shop, I saw a youth across the main road running like a bat out of hell. Then one of the policemen crossing the road running towards the remainder of the group. As he reached them and blocked their path, I saw him depress the button on his radio which transmits the conversation back to the control room. The second policeman started running across the road to provide support. I don't know what had happened whilst I was in the shop, but I suspect that the second policeman was delayed because he was radioing for back up, and I could hear the wail of a siren screaming louder as it got closer.

What puzzles me, is why the control room dispatch police from Queen's Garden HQ in the City Centre and from Hessle Road to an incident on Beverley Road, right opposite the new police station, and from this police station to other areas of the city. Surely it would be better to provide more effective policing to protect the community, if they were dispatched from the nearest point to the incident? The present Chief Constable is relatively new and replaced the one who disgraced himself over the Ian Huntley affair and the killing of a man in the Queen's Garden police HQ. It would appear that resources are not being put to their most effective use. No wonder that the policemen have such low morale and the public have so little confidence.