Using the Authority as a bench-mark for *anything* is problematic, since they're pretty wretched scum. Personally, obviously. YMMV.
But like everyone else, I disagree with the "we go out and beat up poor people" argument. Yes, areas that are poverty-stricken tend to attract higher crime rates, but there's a whole mess of reasons why. It's a lot more complex than that. And Batman spends just as much time chasing wealthy monsters than he does chasing the poor ones.