My neighbor (little old lady) often says how she never hears my DD. I can't believe that for a minute, as she can be very loud! And I can hear when my neighbor turns her shower on in the morning.
I do often say to my neighbor if I see her outside when DD is having a grouchy day "I do hope we are not making too much noise" etc etc. While I know it is normal for babies and children to cry for various reasons, I also imagine it can be a bit of a pain for people living near by that may be able to hear it.
I also apologize to my neighbour if we have been doing alot of DIY or something similar that she may be hearing through the walls.
As for calling the police, you get alot of different people out there, some are familiar with what is normal for a baby, some are not. While I know there are alot of people out there that like to stick their nose into other peoples business all the time. Some people can be genuinely concerned for someones welfare. Without know the people that called the police, I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt that they were doing it with everyone's best interests.
While it may be seen as better for them to knock first, they may not want to put themselves in what could be a potentially uncomfortable situation. If they call the police, they know they have alerted someone to a ?possible? danger, without getting themselves involved. If they had knocked on the door, they may have not been greeted with a pleasant response. I know if I was tearing my hair out with my baby crying, I might not be that nice to anyone that came to my door (and I generally am a nice person).
There have been many stories of 'bad' things happening (I am not necessarily talking about child abuse here, could be parents have had an accident/become ill etc...), where one simple phone call from a concerned neighbor could have changed a bad outcome to a good one.