While I agree this was not a cop issue and totally "the caller" issue, I fail to see how telling strangers to take a flying leap actually does anything to make society better. The woman felt uncomfortable and instead of talking to ANYONE she called the cops.
Why not just let the stranger talk to your kids? You are right there, it's not like they aren't safe. I fail to see how blocking people out of your life is going to create connection and trust between people....
I'm big into freedom and liberty. I do not feel any obligation to appease strangers when their actions make me uncomfortable. I am simply not comfortable letting random strangers talk to children I am in charge of "if" said stranger gives me some weird vibe.
It is all about the manner in which things are done. What this lady could/should have done is simply approach the girl and say, "Wow, that is a nice shirt, where'd you get it? I'd love to buy my granddaughter a shirt like that... Oh, you don't know? Did your uncle here get it for you? Oh, he's not your uncle? He's your babysitter? Ok, sorry didn't mean to pry..."
Another thing the lady could have done is simply approach someone else at the Walmart / Subway while they were eating and ask the person "Hey, does that look suspicious to you? Do you think those kids are being kidnapped?"
Basically, there are a million different ways she could have gotten the information she needed or sought clarification or a second opinion without being offensive. But no. She didn't opt for that. She opted for doing things in a manner that would exert authority and racial superiority. And when she didn't get her way she then opted to call the police. This is something racist people do all that time. They use some pretense to exercise non-existent authority and then when rejected they call the police.
Now, if the children were crying or screaming or showing any signs of distress then that is one thing, but that was not even close to the case.
In any event, this story hits close to home for me. I'm a big black man and I used to work with kids of all races all the time-- tutoring them, mentoring them, babysitting them etc. This incident could have very easily been me.