Ok, so you DON'T understand what a misdemeanour is.
Misdemeanours are still crimes. They carry penalties. You still go to jail for doing it. And since security cameras are so ubiquitous, it's not that hard to prosecute offenders without police help.
Imagine you tried to claim that jaywalking and littering have been legalized. That's nonsense, they haven't been, but if you found out that your police force is spending its time chasing down and shooting at jaywalkers, you'd be well within your rights to go "....that's not a good use of city resources, is it?"