Absolutely!  One of the things that set a free society apart from authoritarian governments is the heavy reliance on a partnership between the citizens and their police.  We don’t have near the numbers of police officers per capita as police-state countries because we’re not protecting the government from the citizens.  We’re protecting the citizens from the criminals.  The police can do the heavy lifting, but it’s the people who live here that are the eyes and ears of the police department.  Policing in a free society only works if the citizens do their part.