My friend had his bike stolen. He insisted on filing a police report even though the cops were clearly annoyed and straight up told him it was pointless. A couple months later he saw his bike chained up on the main street in his neighborhood. There were 2 cops out on the street so he approached them and explained the situation. One laughed at him and said, "What do you want us to do about it?" The other told him he would have to provide proof that that specific bike was his and that it wasn't just the same brand which is basically impossible.

Then he said, "We won't be here much longer. Just go buy some bolt cutters and steal it back."