Reward for stolen items!

[PaulW]

I wish, MarkD, but wouldn't that be thrown out as entrapment?

[randomq]

Entrapment is only when you entice someone to commit a crime they would not otherwise commit. Simply leaving a bait car parked, or a rigged cellphone on a table, is not entrapment. Now if an undercover officer goaded some guy with debts and no record into stealing the car, it might be entrapment.

[PaulW]

Indeed, I did a bit of reading, even leaving keys in the ignition isn't considered entrapment! (by non-lawyers on the internet, I must admit)
So why don't they do it? I'm sure the devil is in the details, as so often.

[kalakoa]

So why don't they do it?

Too much work, and a soft judge will just set low bail anyway.

Easier to raid a "gambling establishment", it's got a fixed address with posted hours and a business registration. No chase, no shooting, home in time for dinner.

http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/news...bling-raid

[Chunkster]

Kalakoa beat me to it. The policing system on the Big Island is designed to meet the government employees unions' expectations of minimal effort. Officers who show initiative or go above and beyond the minimum standard in anything but dire emergencies are subject to scorn or even formal sanction.