Crooks wail about community service? (6,4)
I believe the answer is:
social work
'community service?' is the definition.
(social work is done for the community)
'crooks wail about' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates an anagram.
'crooks'+'wail'='crookswail'
'crookswail' anagrammed gives 'SOCIAL-WORK'.
(Other definitions for social work that I've seen before include "Welfare activity intended to help the socially deprived" , "Activity improving welfare" .)