That was a particularly weird gripe, considering some of the themes that have in fact been replaced by licensed stuff (looking at you LEGO Space/Star Wars) but the cops and robbers is definitely not one of them. The LEGO City theme has always been packed with cops and robbers and still is to this day.
While Lego Space may have been replaced by Lego Star Wars, Space has also come back as a sub-theme of City, but now much more realistic, with bulky space suits and realistic space shuttles. I love it.
