Their options were basically to either call the police or just do nothing and hope it all worked out fine. The former puts lives at risk because of how negligent the police are, but the latter is also negligent and potentially puts lives at risk.
There wasn't some other party they could call to try and intervene. It was cops or bust.
Cops shouldn't be the only solution, but the reality is that they are. The choice to call them was the more responsible one even if the police themselves make little effort to behave responsibly.