Spread too thin

I felt slightly sorry for the Police officer that has recently taken over responsibility for the policing of the village ward. He has 29 villages to cover, is supported by a small team of PCSOs ( plastic policepersons) and obviously has inherited numerous housekeeping problems from each of his small communities.
At the community forum meeting this evening, I tried to be upbeat and supportive, as I recognised his slight desperation at being constrained by policy and protocol, but I did feel that he had a certain lack of background information to hand ;certainly when he was discussing speeding problems through the village.
To many of the older residents of the village, the answer to all problems would be more bobbies on more beats.....and although the Pc said all the right things, I think he never quite reinforced how thin his resources actually are. Working in the nhs for so long, I recognised his library of "proactive" phrases and platitudes, which his referred to constantly, without actually calling a spade....well a spade.
Anyhow after a hour or so, an "action plan " was agreed upon between him and us ( for what it's worth), but I guess his stress levels were somewhat reduced by ticking that audit box after attending yet another community meeting in the first place.....