Cops used to do this in the old days, at least where I grew up. They treated us well, as they should, and we would basically keep our neighborhood clean. If we knew someone was breaking into homes or cars, or committing other crimes, we'd let the local beat cop know who, when and where. They knew us, our parents and our families, we knew theirs, our neighborhoods were safe and we didn't get hassled for being teenagers hanging out. Things changed when the "new" cops started acting like bullies, hassling us for nothing and generally treating us like shit. They lost their greatest asset and made it an us vs. them scenario. The town went downhill and is plagued by hard drugs, violence, gangs and a bad school system. I left twenty years ago but visit family there still. It's very sad to see what it has become, basically a mini Springfield, it used to be a thriving middle class town and was a great place to grow up.