I'm a little late to the game on this one but I think "call the ball" is a baseball term. When more than one player has a chance to catch a fly ball somebody has to take control and yell "I GOT IT"... "Calling the ball" absolves the other players of their involvement thereby avoiding a calamity or stepping on toes.
Q is telling us the local governments may have joint responsibility for keeping the peace but will be told to "back off"... "WE GOT IT"
It is a Naval aviation term. Calling the “meatball” is used for committing to landing on a carrier. The ball is slang for the glide slope indicator.
call-the-ball. Verb. (When landing on US aircraft carriers) Is a request to sight the lights from the multi-colored optical landing system that shows a pilot to be on the correct approach path or how to correct his/her approach path.