At the end of the day, if you don't enforce the law in some way, rich or poor, society will fall apart and be crappy for everyone except those with the means to insulate themselves from it. In a place where tire slashings, car theft, small thefts, trespassing, etc go without consequences, it will be the middle class and poor who have to pay for it.
So as I said before, perhaps some judicial discretion in sentencing is important, and more oppurtunities for community service should be made, but there need to be consequences. And yes, those consequences will often make life harder for those who face them... but that's kind of the point.