Are the TMNT crimefighters?

[pannoni1]

Yeah, it still annoys me when TMNT is labeled as "children's", even though it may say something like "Ages 12 and Up" for the paper RPG book, which clearly belongs in Teen/Young Adult. It makes you question how timeless the franchise is when the original fans of the kiddie stuff are now in their late 20s/early 30s and are starting their own families. But if there was a "maybe" option, that's what I'd pick. In the OT, April sometimes acts like a chief to the turtles, claiming that something has been invaded and needs to be stop, hence making them crimefighters to her, and April would then report on the deeds that the turtles did. In most other incarnations, the turtles are more or less "war fighters", given that they must stop vast clan/armies in order to save the world and not simply catch criminals.