No. Currer Bell is right. Gotham was the very essence of a shithole before Batman, namely because the cops were so far into the pockets of the gangs that they weren't even giving the pretense of stopping crime anymore. Gordon hung on, but even he felt himself slipping. Batman becomes the symbol that shows that justice is not a meaningless word in Gotham, and that you can stand up to the gangs and criminals and come out with your family intact (except Batman's, silly irony).
I find it believable that each one realized no one else was going to do anything and standing up to the mobsters alone would be suicide. Barbara has got to be the worst character in tv right new. Two weeks of crying about Gordon not telling her stuff even though the last time he told her anything she immediately called the newspaper. Then she did the exact opposite of what he told her to do when their lives were in danger. I would have enjoyed the ending so much more if Falcone spared Gordon for penguin, but iced Barbara to teach him a lesson. She is the worst and I don't see her improving as time goes. I think Zsasz walking into the police station is a good example of how what Gordon is doing is different from what Batman did. Batman almost always gets to choose to engage the criminals because they couldn't come for him that way.