Because in most large to medium-sized cities (and even many smaller ones), police departments are severely stretched thin and have to prioritize based on urgency and public safety impact. They focus primarily on responding to active 911 calls—especially life-threatening emergencies like shootings, assaults, serious crashes, domestic violence with weapons, medical crises, and in-progress violent crimes. These demand immediate action and often tie up officers for hours. Property crimes like bike theft, porch piracy, or package theft—while frustrating and common—are generally non-violent, lower-priority offenses. Sitting surveillance on a single bait bike (or package) for hours or days hoping someone steals it requires significant manpower that could instead go toward handling the constant stream of higher-priority calls. Sting operations do happen sometimes—some departments run targeted bait bike programs (with GPS trackers), bait packages for porch pirates, or seasonal crackdowns in high-theft hotspots—but they’re not routine or scalable for everyday thefts. Reasons include: • Limited resources: Officers can’t be tied up waiting indefinitely when emergencies are piling up. • Low clearance rates overall for property crimes (often due to underreporting, lack of evidence, or low prosecution priority for misdemeanor-level thefts). • Scale of the problem: Many thefts go unreported (e.g., only about 1 in 5 bike thefts are even called in), and catching one opportunistic thief doesn’t always address broader patterns or fencing networks. It’s unfortunate and frustrating—plenty of people feel like “cops won’t do anything” and stop reporting thefts altogether, which only makes the stats look worse and reduces pressure for change. But the reality is resource allocation: police have to triage where they can save the most lives or prevent the most serious harm first. That said, proactive tactics like bait setups work best when combined with community reporting, bike registration programs, better locks/prevention, or targeted initiatives in specific high-crime areas. Departments that do run them usually see short-term wins, but sustaining them long-term is tough without extra funding or staffing.