The purpose of this article is to analyze the ways of interaction between young people from urbanpopular sectors who participate in illegal activities and the police. These young people constitute asocial group that has traditionally been a particular target of police control and administration. Throughethnographies in urban neighborhoods in the city of Rosario between 2008 and 2015, the articleseeks to identify dialogue between the youth and the police in the context of an asymmetricalpower relation, which means that the young people are sometimes reproached by the police, othertimes they are approved and at times they are also supported. It concludes that the distinction between"working" and "coming to an agreement" with the police is essential. This difference accountsfor multiple ways of interaction and describes police practices that are both legal and illegal, althoughthey are not always considered to be illegitimate.