There are a lot of cities in the US where thefts are being treated by cops as a "meh sorry just call your insurance company.." So many police depts have been trying to do something to turn that mentality around since people are pretty pissed about it.. I had my laptop stolen about 10 years ago and that's exactly what happened.. The cop showed up like 5 hours after it happened and was like "yea good luck!" And catching people in the act is exciting for cops so it's something they are interested in doing.. It's good PR and interesting for cops.. Until this happens..

We throw money at them, tell them they are heroes and don't hold them accountable.

It's the same reason we have no-knock SWAT raids on parents of toddlers. They have the time and resources and want an opportunity to do something different, get dressed up and play with their toys.

Yeah, that's pretty unusual. In my experience the police prefer to have the victim as hands-off as possible to avoid further drama. (And the S/N is still printed on the bottom of the case, right?)

Because someone has a friend.